Top Rated Santa Cruz County, CA Criminal Defense Lawyers

In Santa Cruz County, California, there are 70 criminal defense lawyers available with 256+ reviews, ratings and specialties. Best‑reviewed attorneys appear first. Cities within the county are listed below for a more focused search.

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Santa Cruz County Has 70 Criminal Defense Attorneys with 256 Reviews

Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 25 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI, Personal Injury

Bio: As a fourth generation native of Monterey, California and a graduate of Monterey High School Attorney John R. Coniglio is grounded in the community. A graduate of Brigham Young University, he earned his law degree at San Joaquin College of Law. At...

Rating: 9.5

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PRO

Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 14 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI

2018 Recipient - President's Award - California DUI Lawyers Association

Rating: 9.9

Call for a FREE consultation(831) 731-1268

Phillip James Crawford's Website

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Criminal Defense Lawyers in Santa Cruz County, CA

Criminal defense lawyers represent clients at every stage of a criminal case: investigation, arrest, arraignment, plea bargaining, trial, and appeal. They assess evidence, protect constitutional rights, negotiate reduced charges or sentences, cross-examine witnesses, raise defenses, file motions, and advocate to minimize penalties or obtain acquittals.

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Criminal Defense

Criminal defense lawyers represent clients at every stage of a criminal case: investigation, arrest, arraignment, plea bargaining, trial, and appeal. They assess evidence, protect constitutional rights, negotiate reduced charges or sentences, cross-examine witnesses, raise defenses, file motions, and advocate to minimize penalties or obtain acquittals.

The Avvo Rating explained

Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 26 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense

Review: "Out of all the lawyers I have had,Sal Gallardo is by far the best! He put in so much time and effort into the case and in the end it really paid off. He is very knowledgable and always answered my calls and called me back, no matter how busy he wa..."

Rating: 7.1

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 26 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, Juvenile

Review: "Jamyrson is a powerhouse. During an extremely high-conflict divorce, the opposing party attempted to weaponize the legal system in ways that were both aggressive and destabilizing in order to get out of paying support after a long marriage. Jamyrs..."

Rating: 7.1

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 27 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, Child Custody, Divorce & Separation and more

Bio: Nicole Fraser is an experienced Family Law Attorney who is licensed to provide legal representation throughout the State of California. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the Law Offices of Nicole Fraser strive to provide successful, professio...

Rating: 9.4

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 9 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, Family

Bio: Born and raised in Santa Cruz, I returned home after law school to serve my community as a Deputy Public Defender with the Santa Cruz Public Defender’s Office (formerly Biggam, Christensen, and Minsloff). For more than six years, I appeared in cou...

Rating: 6.7

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 20 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, Employment & Labor

Review: "My partner and I hired Eric to help us with a Real Estate Disclosure case. Eric worked above and beyond what we ever expected and kept going strong even when our case became more complicated and difficult. His knowledge of real estate disclosure l..."

Rating: 6.7

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 11 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense

Bio: Attorney Jaime Longoria is a criminal defense attorney who brings into his practice his own personal experiences with law enforcement. He knows what it's like to be racially profiled, searched for no reason and accused of crimes. He is one of the ...

Rating: 7.5

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 37 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI

Bio: Every DUI case presents its own challenges and opportunties and in every DUI case he accepts, Lars Shallberg works diligently to protect the best interests and the very freedom of his clients. Mr. Shallberg takes on a limited number of DUI cases e...

Rating: 7.8

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 17 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense

Bio: Mr. Hackett studied under Barry Scheck, and others, in the Criminal Defense Clinic at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. From August 2006 to May 2007 he interned at the Legal Aid Society in New York City, representing clients on a variety of misde...

Rating: 6.8

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 23 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, Appeals, Employment & Labor

Review: "Jonathan Che Gettleman is the best, brightest and most humane lawyer I have had the privilege to utilize. Indeed, he is the only one I know. I have had multiple experiences with soul sick rapacious lazy attorneys thus I speak from experience. Gett..."

Rating: 6.5

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 21 years

Practice Areas: Family, Criminal Defense

Review: "I was referred to Jesse Ruben after my x-husband and I failed meditation. I was told that If I ended up in court, he was the one to have. He offered me two courses of action, explained potential costs of both. He was very efficient with his time a..."

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 23 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, Child Custody

Review: "I had Maggie as my defense attorney in 2006. I was being railroaded by people, who worked with my EX, I was beat up but put on trial! Because they and my EX were bad mouthing me harassing me, trying to make it my fault. I was told to take a plea, ..."

Rating: 7.0

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 21 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense

Review: "Mr. Dudley is an excellent attorney and is very knowledgeable. My expungement process was handled very well and I was kept informed throughout the process. His billing was fair and I am glad I hired him to handle my expungements."

Rating: 7.4

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 28 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, Domestic Violence, Juvenile Law and more

Review: "Professional Beyond all Reasonable Doubt. He has your best interests at heart. You will not regret hiring him as your lawyer. Pay him well, please. Thank you."

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 36 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, Personal Injury

Bio: My personal injury and criminal defense practice is primarily based in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties. I have engaged in these two areas of law for 25 years because I enjoy helping others who are in difficult personal situations that are ofte...

Rating: 7.4

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 22 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense

Review: "Mr.Raft is highly skilled, brilliant and very competent. His integrity and commitment to his client is stellar. You will have THE BEST you can hope for. He was able to have the presiding judge reverse (withdraw) a coerced (by unethical previous at..."

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 29 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense

Review: "Several of our family members have retained Mr. Stevens as a defense attorney and would not hesitate doing so, again, if needed. Charlie is exceptionally responsive and generous with his explanations and time. His relationships within the Court ar..."

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 48 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense, DUI & DWI

Review: "Christine is by far the best atty to have on your side when facing a DUI. As a tech executive her skill in representing me ultimately resulted in an expungement. She managed my case from start to finish, communicating thoughtfully and promptly. I'..."

Rating: 6.6

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Santa Cruz County Criminal Defense Attorney

Criminal Defense Lawyer Licensed for 48 years

Practice Areas: Criminal Defense

Review: "I couldn't ask for more. I was facing an inordinately nasty charge for a relatively small misunderstanding at a very young, barely adult age. With a court appointed attorney, I would've received jail time, despite it being my first arrest. I aske..."

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DUI and DWI Speeding and Traffic Ticket Violent Crime Domestic Violence

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We want to make sure our users have confidence in Avvo’s reviews and ratings, as well as the information we provide and moderate. Data provided on Santa Cruz County’s Criminal Defense lawyers has been sourced from the lawyers themselves as well as publicly available directories such as the State Bar of California. Lawyers who verify themselves are able to claim their profiles and provide additional information. They can also provide additional data on their practice areas and other messaging related to their practice. No content provided by Avvo on this directory page is generated by AI.

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