Jason S. Dreifuss

Why Am I a Criminal Defense Attorney?

I get excited about providing fierce advocacy to clients that would otherwise stand alone with the odds stacked against them. The police are against my clients; the prosecutors are against my clients; probation officers are against my clients; and the vast majority of law is anti-defendant. The entire criminal justice system is weighed heavily against every defendant from the very start. I thrive on leveling the playing field for my clients.

My clients are accused of everything from murder to fraud to sexual assault and everything in between often before I meet them, and often in very public ways. And along with that come potential penalties as great as life imprisonment. It is when the stakes are highest that I shine the brightest. That is what keeps me inspired every day to represent my clients because their case is most important thing they will ever deal with in their life, and I treat it so.

What Experience Do I Have?

Unlike many criminal defense lawyers who began their careers by racking up conviction after conviction of likely, future clients as prosecutors, I had neither the stomach nor the mindset for such work. Instead, I have always focused on criminal defense. From white collar defense work in Washington, DC to state court defense work now; I’ve covered it all. Here are just a few examples:

• Dismissal: First Degree Murder charges (felony murder)
• Not Guilty: after a week-long trial in an Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault case (client was 20 years old facing 18-60 years in prison)
• Not Guilty: Aggravated Battery (pregnant woman) and Domestic Battery
• Dismissal: persuaded DOJ not to intervene and secured dismissal of Department of Defense contractor clients from False Claims Act case in regard to investigation related to alleged fuel surcharge overcharges.
• Not Guilty: Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault (juvenile)
• Not Guilty: Aggravated Battery (great bodily harm) (Bronze-Star awarded, 16-year Army veteran)
• Dismissal: Aggravated Unlawful Use of Weapon (successful Motion to Suppress)
• Child Pornography charge reduced from non-probationable Class 1 to misdemeanor without Sex Offender Registration.

What’s My Approach?

With any case, my first thought is: can I beat it? That can be something big, like a trial. Or that can be something small, a loophole, some sort of technicality. It does not matter to me—but that is my first thought: can we win? And I probably won’t know that answer for certain at our very first meeting. But, with my substantial experience defending the most serious criminal cases, I can give you some initial impressions and provide you a roadmap. And, as the facts change, my approach changes.

If we are geared up to do a plea, because, based on all of the evidence that’s the best approach, but then we learn new information that changes the landscape, we can pivot back to a litigation approach. I am nimble, and I believe it’s more important to get it right than to be right.

At the same time, I am not a bullshitter. I am not an attorney that is going to promise you a specific outcome or a particular result. That also means that if there is tough news or a bad fact for your case, I will not dance around it—I will share it with you directly. My clients tend to find my candor to be one of my strongest assets because it allows us to communicate in an objective way about the various strengths and weaknesses of certain approaches. The stakes are simply too high for me work any other way.

How Should You Pick an Aattorney?

I always prefer to meet with prospective clients in-person when possible. Trust your gut. Intuition is very powerful—hitching your wagon to a criminal defense attorney is an important decision when every other participant in the criminal justice system is on an opposing team. Pick a good teammate.

In the legal field, reputation is everything. My first mentor drilled that into me when I was applying to law school: “As a lawyer, all you have is your reputation.” Those are words I have tried to live by—so please ask around about me.