Juanita Kay

Attorney Juanita Kay focuses her practice in the area of criminal defense. She represents clients on felony and misdemeanor cases throughout all criminal courts in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Juanita Kay is licensed to practice law in all state courts and in the Central District of California. She has handled hundreds of cases. Some of the cases she handles are: driving under the influence, drug cases, assault and battery, sexual battery, petty theft, burglary, hit and run, and domestic violence, child molestation. She is also fluent in Spanish.

Ms. Kay grew up in Los Angeles, California and received her Bachelor’s degree from UCLA in 2006, where she majored in Sociology. While at UCLA, in addition to juggling a full course load, Juanita also found the time to volunteer at various Los Angeles County courthouses for the purposes of assisting self-represented litigants regarding family law issues such as child support and custody. She also conducted attorney facilitated divorce workshops in Spanish and worked with victims of Domestic Violence. After volunteering for over 400 hours and helping people through the legal process, Juanita realized that she wanted to be the kind of attorney who could help people when faced with a legal problem.

With that vision in mind, Ms. Kay enrolled into law school and earned her law degree from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark in 2010. During law school, she earned a specialized certificate in the field of Criminal Law and Procedure, which recognized her concentration in the area of criminal law.

In pursuit of more hands on experience, in 2009, Ms. Kay worked at the Multnomah County District Attorney’s, in Portland, Oregon, as a certified law student working on the trial team. While there, she took several misdemeanor cases to trial which allowed her to gain first hand experience of the different stages of court proceedings and learn the ins and outs of a criminal trial, from the perspective of the prosecution. All of her cases required her to work with police officers in investigations and prepare witnesses for trial. She also engaged in extensive negotiations with defense attorneys arranging plea agreements, argued several motions regarding evidentiary issues, and represented the state in probation violation hearings and restitution hearings. For Ms. Kay, working in the courtroom was a turning point in her career because that is when she developed a sense of passion and developed new enthusiasm for criminal law and the justice system.

Despite this above, after successfully passing the Bar, Ms. Kay did not enter the field of criminal law. Instead she was offered an associate position at one of the largest firms in Los Angeles in the area of Workers Compensation Defense. Too good of opportunity to turn down, Ms. Kay accepted a position as a workers compensation defense attorney and zealously defended insurance carriers, large corporations and employers. However, she quickly realized that practicing workers compensation law did not incite a passion and excitement as practicing criminal law. Ms. Kay’s passion lay in the courtroom advocating for those who need it most of all. Impassioned about the pursuit of criminal justice, Ms. Kay made the best decision of her life and re-entered the profession of criminal law.

However, unlike her career in law school, Juanita knew that she belonged on the side of the accused and those in need of help. Since then, she has worked as a zealous defense attorney. She is always well prepared and will fight to get each client the best possible result. When people ask Juanita how she ended up in the field of criminal defense, she tells them, “ You know, it’s the last thing I thought I would be doing. But as it turns out, I couldn't be more passionate about what I do and I couldn't see myself doing anything else other than this!”