John Carlton has three decades of experience successfully litigating complex criminal and civil cases, including employment cases, from the initial investigation through trial and appeal, in both federal and state courts. He was twice selected as a Southern California Super Lawyer by the publishers of Law & Politics and Los Angeles Magazine, and is AV rated by Martindale-Hubble.

Before founding Medrano & Carlton, Mr. Carlton was in private practice representing a wide range of clients in both criminal and civil matters. He defends clients in all stages of federal criminal proceedings, including pre-charging criminal investigations by the FBI, DEA, IRS, SEC and other agencies. In the civil arena, Mr. Carlton counsels and represents businesses and individuals regarding general tort and commercial disputes, including fraud, breach of contract, real estate encroachments, insurance coverage issues, protection of trade secrets, and employment matters.

For over ten years, Mr. Carlton was a partner in the Los Angeles office of the international law firm, Arnold & Porter LLP. He represented major consumer product and pharmaceutical companies in product liability and mass tort litigation throughout the country. Mr. Carlton also counseled and represented businesses and individuals in federal and state criminal proceedings, commercial and civil rights matters and employment-related issues. He also served as Deputy General Counsel of the Rampart Independent Review Panel.

For twelve years prior to joining Arnold & Porter, LLP, Mr. Carlton was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California, where he occupied several supervisory positions, including Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Section, Chief of the Criminal Complaints Section (where he supervised initiation of approximately two-thirds of all criminal cases prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office each year), and Acting Chief of the Organized Crime Strike Force. In this latter capacity, he successfully coordinated a series of complex investigations into large-scale health care fraud by organized crime entities. Mr. Carlton and Mr. Medrano were lead prosecutors in United States v. Caro-Quintero, et al., which arose from the 1985 kidnapping, torture and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena in Guadalajara, Mexico. The case involved two lengthy trials, numerous appellate decisions (two by the United States Supreme Court), and resulted in the conviction of four individuals. Among many other cases, Mr. Carlton prosecuted and convicted thirteen individuals in a controlled delivery of over 5 1/2 tons of cocaine, the largest such case in history. Mr. Carlton received the prestigious Department of Justice Director's Award for Superior Performance, the Chief Postal Inspector's Award and numerous other commendations. In addition to prosecuting cases, Mr. Carlton has taught at the Attorney General's Advocacy Institute, and lectured on various aspects of complex criminal cases.

Before joining the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mr. Carlton spent eight years at the Los Angeles law firm of Kadison, Pfaelzer, Woodard, Quinn & Rossi. During that time, he specialized in labor and employment matters, representing clients in a variety of forums from mediation through litigation in state and federal courts, including appellate courts.

Mr. Carlton graduated summa cum laude from UCLA, where he was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa, and is a graduate of the UCLA School of Law. He is admitted to practice in federal and state courts throughout California, the United States Fifth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal, and the United States Supreme Court.

jcarlton@medranocarlton.com
Tel: (626) 432-5413
Fax: (626) 432-5414

225 South Lake Avenue
Suite 300
Pasadena, CA 91101