About Craig
Craig Wilke earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from California State University, Fullerton (B.A., 1984) and received his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles (J.D., 1990). His academic training combined coursework in policy and economic analysis with three years of law study in Los Angeles.
He began his legal career in private practice as an associate at Talcott Lightfoot VanDevelde Woehrle & Sadowsky in 1990. A year later he moved into the federal judiciary, serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Bobby R. Baldock on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 1991. That clerkship gave him an early look at appellate procedure and federal decision-making.
Wilke joined the Federal Public Defender’s Office in 1993 as a deputy federal public defender. He spent the bulk of the next decade representing individuals in federal court, handling both trial work and appeals. In 2000 he was named directing lawyer for the Orange County branch, a role that expanded his responsibilities to include case management and supervising other attorneys.
In 2008 he left the Federal Public Defender’s Office and founded the Law Office of Craig Wilke. Since then he has practiced as principal in his own firm. His practice reflects years of federal courtroom experience. He is admitted to practice in California and before the Ninth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals, allowing him to handle matters at both the trial and appellate levels.
Outside the courtroom he has maintained ties to the trial bar and to lawyer education. He has been an instructor for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy since 2005 and has held memberships in the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers since 1994 and the Federal Bar Association since 2004. He served on the board of the Orange County chapter of the Federal Bar Association from 2004 to 2010 and belongs to the Orange County Criminal Defense Bar Association.
The arc of Wilke’s career moves from appellate clerkship to federal defender to private practice. He brings federal trial and appellate experience to his current work and handles cases across federal and state forums. His current practice concentrates on federal criminal defense and appellate representation.
