Best Lawyers in America for Criminal Defense: General Practice
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Named one of Nashville’s best criminal defense lawyers With more than 35 years of experience, David Raybin heads the criminal defense section of our firm, which includes criminal trials, criminal appeals, parole hearings, and civil rights litigation. David has been named the Best Criminal Lawyer in Nashville by Best Lawyers in America , and listed among the Best Criminal Lawyers in TN by Tennessee Business magazine. A regular commentator on local legal subjects, David often deals with p...
Bryan E. DeMaggio is a Jacksonville, Florida attorney with Sheppard, White, Kachergus, & DeMaggio, P.A. , where he represents clients in Appellate Practice , Civil Rights Law , Criminal Defense : General Practice, and Criminal Defense: White-Collar matters. Born and raised in Jacksonville, Mr. DeMaggio joined the firm in 2008 following a clerkship with the practice. His work includes criminal defense litigation, appeals, and civil rights cases in both state and federal courts. Mr. DeMaggi...
Perry Minton is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defense: General Practice and Family Law. Perry, who practices law in Austin, Texas, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Perry is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Since 1980, Elizabeth “Betsy” White has established an excellent and widespread reputation as a top lawyer in the fields of criminal defense, civil rights, and appeals. Her experience includes extensive litigation on behalf of criminal defendants as well as litigation to protect the constitutional and civil rights of individuals and groups, including women, minorities and prisoners. She has litigated at all levels of the judicial system, including the United States Supreme Court. ...
John Hogan is Assistant General Counsel at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A and a Shareholder in the firm’s Criminal Law group. He oversees all governance issues with respect to risk management, conflicts and other policy implementation. In addition to his role as Assistant General Counsel, Mr. Hogan represents individuals, corporations and public entities in relation to criminal and administrative prosecutions and investigations. He handles contested matters in Federal, State and Mu...
Anna Geigle is a Member at Geigle | Morales, LLC. Before forming the firm, Anna was a Deputy State Public Defender in the Denver Trial Office. During her tenure as a Public Defender, Anna was appointed on more than three thousand cases. Anna’s appointments ranged from misdemeanor traffic to juvenile to sexual assault and homicide cases. The vast majority of her experience is in representing clients charged with felony offenses. To date, she has tried over fifty cases to verdict. Anna en...
Branden Scott Twibell is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defense: General Practice and Criminal Defense: White-Collar. Branden Scott, who practices law in Springfield, Missouri, has been recognized since 2022. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Branden Scott is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Jeff Napoli is dedicated to the areas of employment and tort litigation. Before establishing Gilroy Napoli Short, Jeff served as a Deputy District Attorney at the Washington County District Attorney’s Office, where he gained substantial trial experience by handling over 50 cases. He currently applies his extensive trial knowledge to achieve favorable outcomes for his clients. In the field of employment law, Jeff has a strong focus on wrongful termination and discrimination , sexual hara...
Dan Cogdell is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers . His Chambers rating is “Band 1” in White Collar Crime and Government Investigations. Cogdell has been trial counsel in more than 300 jury trials in over sixteen different States. His experience includes verdicts of “Not Guilty” in the Branch Davidian matter, the only acquittal in any Enron related matter, and the successful representation of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton-both as a member of Paxton&r...
Michael L. Rains is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defense: General Practice. Michael L., who practices law in Pleasant Hill, California, has been recognized since 2019. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Michael L. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Benjamin Griffitts is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Criminal Defense: General Practice. Benjamin, who practices law in Fairfax, Virginia, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Benjamin is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Gerald “Gerry” Harris Goldstein is a nationally known and respected defense lawyer and Past President of both the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.He is a fellow in the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He has served as an adjunct professor of law at University of Texas School of Law in Austin and at St. Mary’s University Scho...
Since 1998, Samuel J. Randall, IV has built a solid reputation among his peers, adversaries, and the judiciary in North Carolina as an aggressive and skilled criminal defense lawyer and advocate for his clients. Mr. Randall has represented hundreds of clients in criminal defense matters in the Federal and State courts of North Carolina. Mr. Randall’s clients have been accused of every crime in the book, ranging from the most serious of matters, such as First Degree Murder and Drug Traff...
Scott practices primarily in the areas of white-collar criminal defense, asset forfeiture litigation, criminal appellate litigation, criminal and civil healthcare litigation, False Claims Act litigation, and governmental and corporate investigations. He has represented clients who were under state or federal criminal investigation, successfully guiding them through the process and avoiding charges. Scott has trial experience defending criminal cases and represents clients in the federal and s...
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.