Terree has extensive experience in criminal, civil, and municipal law and previously served as the US Attorney for the Central District of California and the Chief Deputy City Attorney for Los Angeles. He brings more than 30 years of experience in the areas of securities fraud and regulatory matters, banking and financial institutions, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, civil rights actions, political corruption and campaign contribution issues, government contracting, healthcare fraud and regulatory matters, pharmaceutical testing issues, environmental criminal and regulatory matters, false claims, customs, tax fraud, antitrust issues, insurance coverage, and a variety of other complex litigation matters.

Before joining Arent Fox, Terree served as the US Attorney for the Central District of California, where he supervised the work of the Criminal, Civil, Tax, and Asset Forfeiture Sections. He supervised all civil litigation and was the final authority on settlements and civil dispositions as well as tax litigation. During his tenure, the office had a large inventory of qui tam cases and was a national leader in asset forfeitures. As a prosecutor, he established and chaired the first Telemarketing/Investment Fraud Task Force in the country and created and headed the Financial Institutions Fraud Task Force for the Los Angeles area. He was also selected to serve on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee and the Department of Justice Economic Crime Council.

Terree has received the prestigious US Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, among numerous other awards, has taught at the US Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute, and has lectured throughout the nation. He also handled terrorism and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act cases and was the point person in the western US for the Department of Justice’s Intelligence Policy Group. He has been honored by many federal agencies, three United States Attorneys General, and one Canadian agency for his outstanding work in a variety of fields.

After serving as the US Attorney, Terree became the Chief Deputy City Attorney for Los Angeles and supervised more than 525 attorneys. He supervised the office's advisory responsibilities to elected officials, commissions, and other city entities, and the office’s preparation of legal opinions and ordinances. While serving as Chief Deputy, the Office twice argued and prevailed before the Supreme Court of the United States.

In 1994, the Department of Justice selected Terree to serve as a US representative on the Yugoslavia War Crimes Tribunal (ICTY). He traveled to Bosnia at the height of the Yugoslav conflict to investigate allegations of genocide and helped present the international arrest warrant case against Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. He was promoted to serve as the Legal Coordinator for the Investigations Section of the ICTY and during his final week at the ICTY, gave the opening statement in one of its first genocide trials. He also served as a consultant to the Rwandan War Crimes Tribunal.

While Terree prides himself on “silent victories,” some of his representative matters include:

• Under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, pursued civil claims against two major groups of insurance carriers and administrators on behalf of medical providers who were not getting paid;
• Successfully secured the dismissal of charges against a former regional vice president for a publicly traded medical information technology company after the Department of Justice’s Corporate Fraud Task Force indicted him. Terree convinced the task force to drop all charges;
• Secured a non-prosecution agreement from the Brooklyn US Attorney's Office in a securities fraud investigation involving the third largest retail jewelry chain in the country;
• Convinced the Los Angeles US Attorney’s Office not to indict a “target” in a major labor relations fraud case;
• Convinced the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office not to pursue an ethics case against a high profile public official;
• Succeeded in getting a private investigator dismissed from a private civil rights action;
• Served as the lead attorney for the city of Los Angeles in an unfair business practice case against an international public relations firm, and succeeded in obtaining a multimillion-dollar settlement in favor of the city;
• Represented two whistle-blowers who broke open a bribery case in the Oregon prison system and are awaiting a reward from the Internal Revenue Service;
• Served as the lead attorney and crafted a “win-win” settlement in a case involving a disabled jockey and The Jockey’s Guild; and
• Convinced the Los Angeles Ethics Commission to close an investigation of six officials at Los Angeles World Airports.

Terree’s professional affiliations include:

• American Bar Association (ABA), Member
• Association of Business Trial Lawyers, Member
• Standing Committee on Discipline for the Federal District Court, Central District of California, Former Member
• Inner City Law Center, Board of Directors (2005 – present)
• Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, Former Member
• Institute for Corporate Counsel, Advisory Board
• Los Angeles Countywide Criminal Justice Coordination Committee, Former Member
• The Human Rights Subcommittee of the ABA International Law Committee (Los Angeles), former co-chair

Terree has been listed in Chambers USA 2012 in the practices of White-Collar Crime and Government Investigations. He was also recognized in Best Lawyers in America 2013 for his achievements in Criminal Defense: White Collar and named as a “Super Lawyer” by Law & Politics magazine and is listed in Marquis’ Who’s Who. Terree is very active in pro bono activities, and has received the Marc L. Fleischaker Award for his notable work teaching a trial skills training program for 32 Haitian criminal defense lawyers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He also has authored numerous articles and was a contributor and editor for the first set of charging guidelines for the Yugoslav International War Crimes Tribunal.

Terree’s articles include:

• “White Collar Defense Roundtable,” California Lawyer; July 2010
• “Partners in Justice for Darfur,” California Lawyer; January 2008
• “What to Do When a Corporate Crisis Hits,” 2009 Institute for Corporate Counsel, Los Angeles, CA; December 1, 2009
• “Justice Sought for Darfur War Crimes,” Los Angeles Times; June 12, 2007
• “Americans Will Train Sudanese Lawyers,” Los Angeles Daily Journal; May 29, 2007
• “Switching Sides: Prosecutors Move to Defense,” Los Angeles Daily Journal; January 12, 2006
• “Weekend America,” National Public Radio; November 27, 2005

Terree serves on the Los Angeles Executive Committee for Human Rights Watch and has participated in an ABA program training Sudanese attorneys, as well as the Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan.