Best Lawyers in America for Criminal Defense: General Practice
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Dave Thomas is a partner in Taft’s Compliance, Investigations, and White Collar Defense practice. He advises and represents companies, executives, public officials, health care providers, and other professionals who are the subject of state and federal investigations and prosecutions involving the United States Department of Justice and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, as well as county prosecutors throughout the state. He has defended clients in complex matters involving feder...
Jesse Gessin is trial counsel for businesses and individuals. He is the rare attorney who successfully tries both civil and criminal cases. For example, his multimillion-dollar jury verdict was recognized as the highest California verdict in several categories for that year. He entered the case only a few months before trial. In 2022, hired less than ten days before trial, Jesse achieved a complete defense verdict for a successor trustee against multimillion-dollar claims of wrongful investme...
Russell D. Babb was born in Wilson, North Carolina. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead Scholar and co-captain of the 1995 Carolina football team. A four-year starter as an offensive lineman for the Tar Heels, Mr. Babb was also the winner of the 1995 Jim Tatum Award, which is presented each year to the top Senior Scholar-Athlete in the Atlantic Coast Conference. After college, Mr. Babb entered the University of North Carolina School of La...
Heather V. Baer is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Commercial Litigation, Criminal Defense: General Practice, Criminal Defense: White-Collar and Litigation - Trusts and Estates. Heather V., who practices law in Boston, Massachusetts, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Heather V. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Frank Arleo has tried scores of criminal and civil cases in courts throughout the State of New Jersey. Indeed, he has more trial experience than most of the lawyers at the largest firms in the State. Since he began practicing law in 1982, Frank has built an impressive track record as a litigator who can quickly get to the essence of the case. He is skilled at identifying the crucial issues in each case and marshalling the facts and law to his clients’ advantage, which has led him to obt...
Kirsten Wilson is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defense: General Practice. Kirsten, who practices law in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Kirsten is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Attorney Mark P. Maciolek is of counsel to Maciolek Law Group’s Dane County office. In practice since 2005,his practice is primarily focused on criminal defense in Wisconsin state and federal courts. Mark P. Maciolek handles trials and appeals. s. He also has a civil litigation practice, representing clients in trials and appeals in state and federal civil matters. Attorney Mark Maciolek has successfully defended clients against white-collar crimes, firearms crimes, and drug crimes. He ...
A National Practice Devoted To Complex Federal Criminal Defense, Federal and State Habeas Litigation And Other Federal Matters. Ezekiel E. Cortez is a Board Certified Criminal Law Specialist, California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization after passing the federal specialist examination. As a devoted career criminal defense attorney, Mr. Cortez has unwaveringly devoted his practice to the defense of federal criminal cases and other federal matters since 1984. Since 1988 Mr. Cortez has als...
Aaron L. Weisman is a seasoned attorney with more than three decades of legal experience in complex litigation, government investigations, and appellate advocacy. As a Partner with Pannone Devereaux & O’Gara LLC, he represents corporate and individual clients in complex civil and criminal litigation matters in state and federal court. Mr. Weisman also represents firm clients in state and federal regulatory and enforcement actions, internal investigations, and high-stakes disputes in...
John Shea is an attorney in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he has been in private practice since 1988. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1983 and to Michigan's bar in 1985, and is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and United States District Courts in the Eastern District of Michigan, Western District of Michigan, Northern District of Illinois, and Southern District of Indiana. He has a trial practice in...
Terry Bird has been litigating, trying and winning complicated civil and white collar criminal cases for more than 40 years. He started his trial experience as a federal prosecutor in the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney’s Office. Before that, he clerked for Justices Lynn “Buck” Compton and Robert Thompson at the California Court of Appeal. His extensive and successful trial experience in commercial business litigation and white collar criminal prosecutions has been recognized by h...
Founding Partner, Personal Injury & Criminal Defense Some lawyers make a career. Steve Coffey built a legacy. From the moment he stepped into the Albany County District Attorney’s Office—where he became the youngest Felony Bureau Chief in county history—it was clear that Steve’s path would be anything but ordinary. His commanding presence in the courtroom and instinct for justice quickly set him apart, earning respect from colleagues, judges, and adversaries alike....
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.