The RegistryLos Angeles · California

Criminal Defense Attorneys in Los Angeles, California

Searching for a criminal defense lawyer in Los Angeles? Counsel for the accused: from arraignment through trial and record clearance. This page indexes Los Angeles's criminal defense coverage from the State Bar of California's official roll, with identity-verification markers where available.

Venue matters. Criminal defense cases from Los Angeles are ordinarily heard at the Los Angeles County Superior Court: Stanley Mosk Courthouse, downtown, serving home to more than 3.8 million people. Los Angeles County Superior Court is the largest unified trial court in the United States, with dozens of courthouses spread across the county and dedicated personal injury, complex civil, family, and probate operations.

One date controls everything that follows: most misdemeanors: one year to charge; most felonies: three years, per Cal. Penal Code §§ 799–802. Charging deadlines scale with the offense: crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment, and embezzlement of public money, may be prosecuted at any time (Cal. Penal Code § 799). After arrest, arraignment must generally occur within 48 hours (Cal. Penal Code § 825). Read the record below with that clock in mind.

This page is the Los Angeles chapter of the registry's statewide record · Criminal Defense Lawyers in California collects every county and city.

The clock & the court

Statute of limitations

Most misdemeanors: one year to charge; most felonies: three years.

Cal. Penal Code §§ 799–802

Charging deadlines scale with the offense: crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment, and embezzlement of public money, may be prosecuted at any time (Cal. Penal Code § 799). After arrest, arraignment must generally occur within 48 hours (Cal. Penal Code § 825).

Court of record · Los Angeles County

Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.

Courthouse at the county seat: Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

For Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Superior Court: Stanley Mosk Courthouse, downtown.

Court website · Self-help center · Source: The court's official website, read 2026-09-27. Venue depends on the case; legal information, not legal advice.

Criminal Defense · Los Angeles roster

2,296 active attorneys with an address of record in Los Angeles list criminal defense among their practice areas on the registry, out of 29,383 active attorneys whose address of record is in Los Angeles.

By count, the practice areas most often listed by Los Angeles attorneys are litigation (5,887), business law (5,883), employment (3,463), personal injury (2,627) and real estate (2,497). A count of listings, not a measure of skill.

28 of the 29,383 have claimed and verified their record here; every other listing is the official record as published.

For 3,341 of the 29,383 active attorneys in Los Angeles, the registry holds a language other than English; by count, Spanish (2,262), Chinese (1,272), French (959) and Japanese (634). Attorneys themselves confirmed Spanish (2) and French (1); the rest come from a firm website published in that language, which describes the website, not the attorney.

Reading the roster in Los Angeles. For criminal charges, the useful questions are concrete: how often the attorney appears in the specific courthouse where your case is set, their experience with the charged offense, who will actually stand up in court with you, and how fees are structured (criminal defense is typically flat-fee by stage of case). Move fast: early representation matters at arraignment and bail, and pre-filing intervention can sometimes shape charging decisions.

Address of record in Los Angeles