Best San Diego Criminal Defense Attorneys

Bradley Corbett is a San Diego criminal defense attorney for felony and misdemeanor cases. He has won not-guilty verdicts throughout San Diego County and Long Beach. His office has handled thousands of cases, including manslaughter, firearm, and fraud charges.

DUI defense makes up a large share of his work. Attorney Corbett also handles DMV hearings, which drivers must request within 10 days. He also clears old convictions through expungement.

He has offices in San Diego, Vista, and Temecula. Calls are answered 24/7, including nights and weekends.

Vikas Bajaj has defended clients in California state and federal courts for more than two decades. His downtown San Diego practice focuses on serious charges and active investigations.

Federal work includes healthcare fraud, money laundering, RICO, and mail and wire fraud cases. On the state side, Attorney Bajaj takes sex crimes, violent crimes, and theft charges.

He also represents service members facing court-martial or military diversion. National outlets, including Fox News, feature him as a legal commentator on criminal trials.

Peter M. Liss is a Vista criminal defense lawyer and a UC Berkeley Law graduate. He has practiced criminal law exclusively since 1987. As a public defender, he rose to Assistant Supervising Public Defender in the Vista office.

He opened his solo practice in 1998 and has tried more than 100 jury trials. Attorney Liss handles every case himself. In most misdemeanor cases, he can appear in court on the client's behalf.

His Vista office faces the North County Regional Center, home of the local courthouse. A second office in Carmel Valley serves central San Diego, and the first consultation is free.

Monder Law Group covers cases at the downtown, Vista, El Cajon, and Chula Vista courthouses. Listed practice areas include military criminal defense, firearm charges, fraud, and expungement. The firm also takes DMV hearings and probation violations.

Patrick Griffin is a felony defense lawyer in San Diego and founder of Griffin Law Office, APC. He has won jury trials in every county courthouse. He has managed more than 1,000 criminal cases, including serious and minor charges.

Case results include a dismissed murder case and full acquittals in felony domestic violence trials. In a methamphetamine trafficking case, he won a suppression motion that ended the prosecution.

Attorney Griffin won his first jury trial as a law school law clerk. The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times have covered his cases.

Anna R. Yum spent years as a prosecutor before moving to the defense side. She has practiced in San Diego courts for two decades. She knows the judges and prosecutors at courthouses across the county.

Her team takes state and federal cases, including high-stakes charges. Because she has built cases herself, she can spot weak points in the prosecution's evidence. The office answers calls 24/7.

Christoph Law Offices is a North County DUI and criminal defense practice. For more than 40 years, it has sat directly across from the Vista Courthouse.

Attorneys William R. and Nicholas W. Christoph have handled more than 5,000 DUI cases. The team includes a former Marine Corps captain and a former Deputy San Diego City Attorney. Service members from Camp Pendleton can ask about military diversion.

Dod Ghassemkhani, founder of Dod Law, has worked in the criminal justice system since 2004. In 2023, the San Diego Criminal Defense Bar Association named him Trial Lawyer of the Year.

His firm has won not guilty verdicts in first-degree murder, stabbing, and strangulation cases. Dod Law has offices in San Diego and Vista and also serves Orange County. USA Today and Court TV have interviewed him about high-profile trials.

Pedro Bernal is a San Diego defense lawyer who prosecuted cases for nearly a decade. Part of that time, he handled federal crimes at the U.S. Attorney's Office.

His experience includes white-collar crime, violent felonies, and appeals before the California Supreme Court. Attorney Bernal is fully bilingual and has taught trial courses at California Western School of Law.

George Gedulin runs a San Diego practice that pairs criminal defense with family law. He has also won money for clients whose civil rights were violated during an arrest. Sarah Gedulin leads the family law side, and George speaks Russian.

Joshua R. Bourne is a San Diego DUI defense attorney who founded his firm in 2006. Earlier, he prosecuted for the San Diego City Attorney, often in the Domestic Violence Unit.

The county has certified him as conflict counsel and for juvenile court cases. His trial work includes felony injury DUIs and Watson murder cases.

Daniel S. Castañeda focuses on immigration law, including removal defense and detained cases. His criminal defense work centers on charges that could affect a client's immigration status. He speaks Spanish and offers same-day consultations and payment plans.

Michael Anthony Hernandez is a criminal defense attorney in San Diego, representing clients in federal and state cases. He sits on the Board of Governors of California Attorneys for Criminal Justice. His practice also covers appeals and clearing old criminal records.

Few San Diego lawyers combine criminal defense with professional license defense. Nicole Irmer does both. She represents health care workers, child care providers, and real estate professionals facing board discipline. Her firm takes clients from across California.

Gregory Garrison is a defense attorney who has worked on both sides of criminal cases. He first worked as a law officer, then prosecuted over 1,000 cases for the District Attorney. Those included homicide and street gang trials.

Herbert and Tanya Weston have handled more than 4,000 cases and 500 jury trials. Herbert is a certified criminal law specialist. Some of the firm's cases set legal precedent now taught in law schools. The Vista office speaks Spanish.