Justus Fredrick Kandoll

For Justus, criminal defense begins with listening. Behind every charge is a person facing uncertainty about their freedom, family, work, and future. Justus takes time to understand what happened, what the government alleges, and what matters most to his client before deciding how to challenge the case.

Justus has practiced criminal defense since 2012. He has handled more than 3,500 criminal matters, with charges ranging from misdemeanors including DUI to serious felony and violent-crime allegations, including murder and aggravated assault. His practice has included DUI, domestic violence, other driving offenses, theft, drug and weapons charges, sex offense.

No two cases are the same, even when the charges are identical. Justus examines what the evidence actually proves rather than accepting the conclusions in a police report, witness statement, or laboratory result. That may mean testing an officer’s account through cross-examination, challenging the legality of a stop, investigating how evidence was collected and preserved, or working with an expert to assess scientific evidence. When trial is the right course, he is prepared to take the case to a jury.

Born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in Poulsbo, Washington, Justus graduated from Saint Martin’s University before attending Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston on an academic scholarship. During law school, he interned with the Fort Bend Mental Health Public Defender’s Office, working with people who faced criminal charges alongside significant mental health challenges. That experience reinforced a principle that still guides his practice: a police report rarely tells a person’s whole story.
After graduating from law school in 2012, Justus returned to the Pacific Northwest and began his career as a public defender. Criminal defense has remained the focus of his work ever since.

DUI defense is a significant part of Justus’s practice. He has handled more than 500 DUI and physical-control-related matters, with outcomes that include acquittals, dismissals, reduced charges, deferred prosecutions, diversions, and other alternatives. He looks beyond a breath-test or toxicology number to examine timing, collection and handling, testing reliability, witness observations, and whether the evidence establishes impairment at the time of driving.

Justus believes clients deserve candid advice about risk and a lawyer willing to challenge the government when the facts and law support it. He works to explain the process, identify realistic options, and give clients the information they need to make decisions about their own lives. Whether the case calls for negotiation, expert investigation, a motion, or trial, his approach remains the same: listen to the client, examine the evidence, and build the defense from there.

Outside the courtroom, Justus enjoys golf, running, and pub trivia.