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Andrea Charles

Associate
Associate
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VCard
VCard

Areas of Focus

Overview

When individuals and businesses face high-stakes litigation or regulatory and law enforcement investigations, Andrea provides effective, collaborative counsel to minimize client exposure and resolve disputes. Working closely with colleagues and clients, she develops legal strategies through research, drafts motions and other legal documents, interviews witnesses, prepares clients for interviews conducted by government agencies, and engages with government personnel on behalf of clients. 

Andrea represents clients in regulatory enforcement actions, internal and government investigations, white collar criminal defense matters and complex commercial disputes. Recognized for her commitment to teamwork and ability to synthesize and communicate highly technical information, she works with clients from a broad range of information-dependent industries, including healthcare, financial services, insurance, retail and technology. Andrea routinely conducts regulatory compliance audits and risk assessments, helps businesses respond to whistleblower allegations and follow-on investigations, and helps to develop sophisticated, novel defense strategies for individuals and corporations.

In her white collar criminal defense practice, Andrea has defended corporations, executives and other individual clients in parallel proceedings and other cases brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and state attorneys general. Recent cases have involved allegations of anti-competitive recruiting and hiring practices, corruption and fraud in procuring government tax credits, corporate financial practices and insider trading.

In her commercial litigation practice, Andrea regularly represents clients in individual lawsuits, consumer class actions and multi-district litigation. She draws on her wide-ranging experience to help clients develop creative, effective solutions that address rapidly emerging issues. In recent years, for example, she has represented clients in connection with landlord/tenant disputes arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-kickback matters relating to the Medicare Advantage program, and cases involving healthcare billing, contracts and commercial fraud.

Andrea also maintains an active pro bono practice, representing clients in civil, constitutional and criminal proceedings. Among other matters, she has represented multiple criminal defendants in the Southern District of New York in cases involving alleged criminal fraud and robbery and in asserting claims against police officers for violations of Fourth Amendment search and seizure prohibitions. She successfully helped secure an order of nolle prosequi for a criminal defendant whose intellectual disability rendered him unable to assist in his own defense. She also worked on behalf of a defendant who pled guilty in a narcotics conspiracy case, procuring a sentence below his Sentencing Guidelines range. In recognition of her pro bono service during her first year at Crowell, Andrea received the firm’s George Bailey Pro Bono Rookie of the Year Award.

Career & Education

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    • Pennsylvania State University, B.A., criminology, 2015
    • Cornell Law School, J.D., 2019
    • Pennsylvania State University, B.A., criminology, 2015
    • Cornell Law School, J.D., 2019

    • New York
    • New York

    • Member, Metropolitan Black Bar Association
    • Member, Metropolitan Black Bar Association

Andrea's Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 10.30.23

CCO Enforcement Actions the “Rare” Exception—Not the Rule: Additional Details From SEC’s Enforcement Division

On October 24, 2023, Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Division of Enforcement, provided a preview of the agency’s enforcement outlook against Chief Compliance Officers (“CCO”) in the upcoming year.  His remarks highlight the continued importance of compliance programs (and continued focus on the part of regulators on those programs), but also make clear that SEC enforcement actions targeting behavior on the part of CCOs will continue to be rare....

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Representative Matters

  • Representing major corporation in the aerospace industry in investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice into allegations of illegal agreements among competitors regarding recruiting and hiring. 
  • Represented a large corporation in simultaneous DOJ and State Attorney General investigations into allegations of corruption and fraud in procuring government tax credits. 
  • Representing CFO of community service organization in connection to SDNY investigation into company's financial practices. 
  • Achieved a favorable outcome for an individual client who pled guilty to participation in an insider trading scheme.

Litigation

  • Defending major technological services company in breach of contract lawsuit with contractors in which it asserts additional counterclaims alleging that contractors engaged in a multi-schemed fraud against the company. 
  • Representing major health insurance plan in multiple disputes with out-of-network providers relating to charges in excess of reasonable and customary amounts. 
  • Representing Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies in MDL national and statewide class actions asserting antitrust claims. 
  • Representing multiple retailers in connection with litigation arising due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Pro Bono

  • Representing multiple criminal defendants in the SDNY as part of the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) panel in cases ranging from criminal fraud to robbery. Andrea recently helped to secure an order of nolle prosequi for one criminal defendant whose intellectual disability was found to render him unable to assist in his defense. 
  • Representing multiple plaintiffs asserting claims against police officers for Fourth Amendment search and seizure violations.

Andrea's Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 10.30.23

CCO Enforcement Actions the “Rare” Exception—Not the Rule: Additional Details From SEC’s Enforcement Division

On October 24, 2023, Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Division of Enforcement, provided a preview of the agency’s enforcement outlook against Chief Compliance Officers (“CCO”) in the upcoming year.  His remarks highlight the continued importance of compliance programs (and continued focus on the part of regulators on those programs), but also make clear that SEC enforcement actions targeting behavior on the part of CCOs will continue to be rare....

View All Insights

Practices

Industries

Andrea's Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 10.30.23

CCO Enforcement Actions the “Rare” Exception—Not the Rule: Additional Details From SEC’s Enforcement Division

On October 24, 2023, Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Division of Enforcement, provided a preview of the agency’s enforcement outlook against Chief Compliance Officers (“CCO”) in the upcoming year.  His remarks highlight the continued importance of compliance programs (and continued focus on the part of regulators on those programs), but also make clear that SEC enforcement actions targeting behavior on the part of CCOs will continue to be rare....

View All Insights