Rasha Gerges Shields is a partner at Jones Day in Los Angeles. Her practice focuses on white collar defense, internal investigations, compliance, and complex civil litigation. Rasha has been the lead trial counsel in federal court and has argued before the California Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit, the California Court of Appeal, and federal/state trial courts. Prior to joining Jones Day, Rasha was a federal prosecutor for over seven years, and served as the Deputy Chief of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Section in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Rasha has been recognized as among the “Most Influential Lawyers: White Collar and Cyber Crime” by the Los Angeles Business Journal and as a “Best Lawyer Under 40” by the Arab American Lawyers Association of Southern California. Rasha received her bachelor’s degree from UC Irvine, and her law degree from UCLA. Following graduation, Rasha secured prestigious federal clerkships with the Honorable Gary A. Feess in the Central District of California, and the Honorable Ferdinand F. Fernandez in the Ninth Circuit. Rasha is also committed to public service and serving pro bono clients. She is President of the Arab American Lawyers Association of Southern California, immediate past president of UCLA Law Alumni Association, and Secretary of California ChangeLawyers. Rasha also co-chairs Los Angeles County Bar Association's Dialogues on Freedom Committee, is on the Just the Beginning Steering Committee, and volunteers at El Rancho High School's Teen Court.
Rasha serves as Co-Chair of the WWCDA Diversity Committee, is the Secretary of the L.A. Chapter of WWCDA, and is on the WWCDA Speaker Initiative Team.