Education
University of Pennsylvania Law School (J.D.),
cum laude
The George Washington University (B.A.),
magna cum laude
Bar Admissions
District of Columbia
New York
New Jersey
Raj Parekh leads the firm’s National Security Practice in the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), in addition to handling a wide variety of national security cases, including anti-terrorism matters, in federal courts nationwide. Mr. Parekh is the former Acting United States Attorney and First Assistant United States Attorney in EDVA, where he led a staff of over 300 prosecutors, civil litigators, and support personnel in a district that serves over six million residents. He successfully prosecuted some of the most significant national security cases in the past decade, including the highest-ranking fighter for ISIS to have ever faced a jury trial in the United States.
Mr. Parekh was the highest-ranking career (non-political) official in EDVA from 2020–2024. He previously served as a federal prosecutor in the national security and narcotics units, and he also prosecuted cases with the financial crimes, cybercrime, and major crimes units of the Office. In 2024, Mr. Parekh was selected as the first-ever Chief of Corporate Enforcement at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, where he continued to serve on detail from EDVA before joining the firm in March 2025.
Mr. Parekh is a skilled and experienced litigator, having tried more than 40 cases to verdict throughout his career and having previously worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Counterterrorism Section, IBM, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the international law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and as a judicial fellow under the supervision of two former Chief Judges of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. For his impressive track record in public service, Mr. Parekh received the South Asian Bar Association of Washington, D.C.’s Public Sector Trailblazer Award.
Mr. Parekh’s prior prosecutions in the Eastern District of Virginia include, but are not limited to:
- U.S. v. Kotey and Elsheikh: Mr. Parekh received the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service for the historic prosecution of the ISIS “Beatles,” Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, both of whom were convicted for their participation in a hostage-taking scheme involving the detention of 26 hostages from 12 countries that resulted in the deaths of American, British, and Japanese nationals in Syria. The U.S. Department of Justice stated that Elsheikh is “the highest-ranking fighter for ISIS to have ever faced a jury trial in the United States.”
- U.S. v. Fluke-Ekren: Mr. Parekh successfully prosecuted the leader of an ISIS military battalion who trained over 100 women and young girls in Syria on the use of AK-47 assault rifles, grenades and suicide belts.
- U.S. v. Khalifa: Mr. Parekh successfully prosecuted an ISIS fighter who executed two Syrian soldiers and who served as translator in ISIS’s propaganda production and the English-speaking narrator on numerous ISIS videos.
- U.S. v. Donald, et al.: Mr. Parekh received an FBI Service Award for successfully prosecuting a physician and two former medical employees, all of whom pleaded guilty to an extensive “pill mill” prescription opioid trafficking conspiracy and a health care fraud scheme.
- U.S. v. Courtney: Mr. Parekh received the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency Award for successfully prosecuting a former DEA public affairs officer who pleaded guilty to defrauding a dozen companies of over $4.4 million by falsely posing as a covert CIA officer.
- U.S. v. Cheveers: Mr. Parekh successfully prosecuted a former government contractor who pleaded guilty to stealing and embezzling government computers from the United States Department of State.
- U.S. v. Burgamy and Wilson: Mr. Parekh received an FBI Service Award for successfully prosecuting a dark web vendor and pharmacist, both of whom pleaded guilty to conspiring to use explosives in furtherance of a firebomb attack plot, which was uncovered and thwarted.
- U.S. v. Lounsbury and Lopez-Munoz: Mr. Parekh received an FBI Service Award for his trial performance in successfully prosecuting two executives who were convicted by a federal jury of supplying falsely labeled, out-of-warranty armor to U.S. personnel serving overseas.
- U.S. v. Liriano-Toribio: Mr. Parekh successfully prosecuted an individual from the Dominican Republic who was convicted by a federal jury for his participation in a multimillion-dollar narcotics trafficking conspiracy.
- U.S. v. Spain: Mr. Parekh received the Anti-Defamation League SHIELD Award for successfully prosecuting an ISIS supporter who planned to conduct terrorism attacks on targets in Virginia, including the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, following a successful undercover operation.
- U.S. v. Khweis: Mr. Parekh received the Director’s Award for Superior Performance and the Assistant Attorney General Award for Excellence in National Security for successfully prosecuting the first individual to face a jury in the United States after having joined ISIS in ISIS-controlled territory, who was convicted by a federal jury of material support to terrorism offenses.
You are advised that not all client results are included and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.