The RegistryBay Area · California

Criminal Defense Attorneys in San Jose, California

Every criminal defense lawyer and criminal defense attorney listing on this page traces back to the State Bar of California's official roll, filtered to criminal defense matters in San Jose. Verification describes profile identity, not quality or outcomes.

Venue matters. Criminal defense cases from San Jose are ordinarily heard at the Santa Clara County Superior Court: Downtown Superior Courthouse, serving a city of roughly 971,000. Santa Clara County Superior Court runs a complex civil litigation division that hears many of the technology sector's trade secret, employment, and shareholder disputes; the federal Northern District's San Jose division sits a few blocks away.

Deadlines shape these cases before merits do · 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).

This page is the San Jose 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 · Santa Clara County

Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara.

Main courthouse: Downtown Superior Court (DTS), 191 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95113

For San Jose: Santa Clara County Superior Court: Downtown Superior Courthouse.

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 · San Jose roster

462 active attorneys with an address of record in San Jose list criminal defense among their practice areas on the registry, out of 3,596 active attorneys whose address of record is in San Jose.

By count, the practice areas most often listed by San Jose attorneys are business law (698), criminal defense (462), litigation (457), intellectual property (379) and family law (320). A count of listings, not a measure of skill.

6 of the 3,596 have claimed and verified their record here; every other listing is the official record as published.

For 269 of the 3,596 active attorneys in San Jose, the registry holds a language other than English; by count, Spanish (171), Chinese (136), Japanese (115) and French (114). Attorneys themselves confirmed Spanish (1); the rest come from a firm website published in that language, which describes the website, not the attorney.

Reading the roster in San Jose. 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 San Jose