Chad Van Cleave

Before I began law school, I had what I believed to be a healthy distrust of government. I had read the Federalist Papers, the Anti-Federalist Papers, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and believed that if the patriots who founded this nation and wrote its founding documents distrusted government, I should, too. The impression I had after finishing school was that our system of justice was essentially a system of justice, and my distrust of government was significantly alleviated. However, it only took one case to receive a shocking wake-up call. I realized that an individual defendant in a federal criminal case, especially an indigent one who has nearly no resources, in an adversarial proceeding being driven by the government of the United States of America with essentially unlimited resources, was not on fair footing. It is made even worse by well-intentioned law enforcement who believe it is their calling to make sure that every "bad person" is locked up for a very long time, and a set of sentencing guidelines that results in sentences that are far greater than sentences imposed in similar cases in state courts. I realized with that first case that the Framers of the Constitution had more than a law school understanding of what Government is capable of, and that their distrust of Government was, and is, well founded, and well-taken by the modern U.S. Citizen. I take seriously the warning of the Framers of the Constitution not to trust the government, and so should you. After my first case, I realized I could enjoy doing my very small part in trying to make the Government play by the rules, and I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. I realized that by defending each of my clients, I was actually doing a small part in protecting each and every inhabitant of the United States and making them a little bit safer from the Government. That's why, as frustrating as it can be sometimes, I love what I do. Now I handle only federal criminal cases.

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California

Since 2003

Eastern District of California

Since 2010

Eastern District of Texas

Since 2008

Northern District of California

Since 2003

Northern District of Florida

Since 2008

Northern District of Texas

Since 2003

Southern District of Texas

Since 2008

Western District of Texas

Since 2005

5th Circuit

Since 2005

10th Circuit

Since 2008

Attorney/President

Van Cleave Law Firm, PC

2003 - Current

Federal Criminal Defense, Federal Sentence Reductions, Federal Criminal Appeals, Federal Inmate Issues, Federal Asset Forfeiture

Oak Brook COL & Gov't Policy

Law Degree

California State Bar  # 224036

Member

2003 - Current