Sifting through lawyers will consume a lot of effort and emotion on your part so be careful when searching the Internet for attorneys who claim to specialize in police misconduct, excessive force, and/or brutality matters.  Just about every law office would like to be the first to accept or refuse service or they would like to receive a referral fee for introducing you to an attorney who actually specializes in this area.  Don’t be quick to sign a retainer agreement with the first attorney who implies that your case has merit as it could be months before your underlying arrest charges are resolved in criminal court (Hall of Justice).  It’s good to get a head start on interviewing attorneys though, use this time wisely, and do your best to retain an attorney who has the experience, training, time, and resources to assist you.

With the above being said, here is a short list of civil attorneys (no particular order of preference) in Santa Clara County that have confirmed experience specifically with police misconduct and excessive force matters.  When you speak with them, ask which criminal defense attorneys they recommend and don’t forget to read the Evaluating Your Potential Police Misconduct Case publication by attorney Ben Rosenfeld.

Anthony Boskovich website

Jeffrey Kallis website

Michael Haddad website

Jaime Leaños website

John Burris website