Frances-Marie Prizzia dedicates her law practice to upholding the constitutional rights of her clients and zealously defending them. Her passion has always been in criminal defense and public service, as evidenced by her prior work and volunteer history. For the past 15 years, Frances has dedicated herself to the practice of law. Years before opening this firm, Frances worked as an Orange County Public Defender as well as in the Los Angeles County Alternate Defender's Office. While working for Orange County as a trial attorney, she obtained many dismissals, in addition to taking more cases to jury trial and winning more than any other attorney within her unit during that time. Frances is also fluent in speaking Tagalog. Prior to becoming an attorney and while in law school, Frances worked at the Public Defender's office in Santa Cruz. As a law student, she successfully argued and won a motion to suppress evidence due to the unlawful violations of the Fourth Amendment by the investigating police officers. She also researched and wrote motions asking the court to order the disclosure of information regarding confidential informants and confidential police personnel files ("Pitchess motions.") Her compassion and commitment to making a difference and defending those who needed help is what convinced her to apply for law school. She was accepted into, and chose to enroll in, Santa Clara University School of Law, where she had also received her undergraduate degree several years earlier. But some of the reasons Frances chose to return to Santa Clara University was because of its emphasis on criminal defense and public service. In addition to extensive trial advocacy training, the school is also home to the Death Penalty College, Northern California Innocence Project, and Center for Social Justice and Public Service. While in law school, she worked at the Katharine and George Alexander Community Law Center, where she wrote two successful political asylum briefs and won a U-visa (victim of violence) application for her client, which allowed the client to obtain her permanent residency ("green card") and a work permit in the United States. Lawyer.com Member Questionnaire Please describe a case(s) in the last year or two where you made a big difference. I had a case where Filipino nurses were charged by the Attorney General’s office for criminally negligent death of a patient in a nursing home. These poor nurses did nothing but their best to take care of the patient. The doctors ruled the patient’s death as an accident and inevitable due to a heart attack since the patient was in very poor health, had recently endured surgery that he was not fully cleared for but needed to do to save his life, had a prior heart condition, and expired naturally. The AG simply was on a witch hunt because the patient’s family had a civil case and a lot of pull in this matter. The court, during the preliminary hearing, agreed with me, and refused to have these nurses held to answer. The nurses were discharged, and the court also granted a factual innocence motion I brought up in court. How did you build a successful practice? I built this practice on hard work, dedication, compassion towards my client and a lot of hustle. What should clients look for in a lawyer? Passion and heart as well as competency. Client’s should decide on a lawyer based on who they feel most comfortable with and at sync with. They should choose who they feel actually cares and will fight for their case as well as the attorney’s credentials. How important is local knowledge to the success of your cases? It is very important because different counties have different ways of running their cases and different policies that could mean a dismissal for your client or a guilty plea. What information can you provide in a free phone consultation? I provide as much information as the client would like. I do not try to make guesses. I attempt to gather as much information as I can from the client, then look the cases up in the system and attempt to give the best options I can provided with the information I have been given. What information do you need in a free phone consultation? I would need the charges that the clients are looking at, past record history, the facts of the case, what county or court the case is currently in as well as the status of the case. I also ask for what the client wants as the outcome. What differentiates you from other lawyers in your community? I have a lot of heart and compassion. I truly put myself in my client’s shoes to understand their fears and concerns so that I can obtain the best results for them. What are your other interests in addition to law? I like going to musical theatre, dancing, singing, hiking, and yoga. Are you involved in your community? Yes very much so. I am involved in my church as a Catechist for Sts. Simon and Jude Catholic Church. I am part of FLOC which is Filipino Lawyers of Orange County. And I have been a room mom for my children’s school for years.

Attorney Sharen H. Ghatan, founder and CEO of California Legal Counsel, APLC; is a highly regarded and passionate attorney. She has diligently built deep-rooted, solid relationships with judges, prosecutors and insurance companies for nearly two decades; all to the great benefit of her clients. Attorney Ghatan is dedicated to fighting aggressively for her client’s personal and financial freedoms. She takes on all types of criminal and personal injury cases with vigor. Her unmatched work ethic, combined with her ambition, intelligence, charm and savoir-faire make her a formidable advocate. Attorney Ghatan’s sharp wit and comedic genius have also helped her obtain countless victories; whether that be criminal case dismissals or huge monetary settlements for her injured clients. Attorney Ghatan has been recognized as a 2019 Super Lawyer® and has consistently received "Client's Choice" awards, prestigious recognitions as "Top Attorney", "10/10" Ratings from various, revered law boards and legal social media sights. She is highly sought after for Legal Analysis in the radio, television and print worlds. Attorney Ghatan is also recognized as a pro-tem judge in Los Angeles County.

As an Attorney for the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office, Kazarian handled hundreds of serious criminal cases each month, dealing with issues ranging from, but not limited to new filings, preliminary hearings, bail hearings, pretrial status conferences, trial preparation and investigation, presentation of mitigation, motions for dismissal, suppression motions, appointment and consultation with various defense experts, court trial, jury trial, jury selection, sentencing, and various probation issues and expungements. Alexandra Kazarian is well known for her aggressive representation of clients and extensive experience as a trial lawyer. Alexandra handles White Collar Fraud cases, Theft Related Crimes, Expungements, Drug Offenses, Juvenile Crimes, Domestic Violence , Lewd Conduct, and Arson cases throughout Los Angeles County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County and Orange County. She tries most of her cases in the Norwalk Courthouse in Norwalk, CA, as well as the Downtown LA Criminal Courts Building. Throughout her practice, she has defended clients in over 35 Criminal Jury Trials against charges including municipal code violations, battery, domestic violence, drug possession, drug sales, prostitution, child abuse, assault, robbery, robbery with gang enhancements, DUI, DUI with injury, sexual battery, and murder. Alexandra defends clients against any and all possible misdemeanor and felony charges. If you need a felony attorney, misdemeanor attorney, or expungement lawyer, please contact The Law Office of Alexandra Kazarian today.

Central Valleys' most dedicated DUI and DMV lawyer. I will put on the gloves and fight for you. This charge does not have to ruin your life.

My name is Ernest J. Lee Sr. I founded the Lee Law Group, (LLG) in 2007 after working for four different law firms in the greater San Diego Area. Frankly, I felt I had learned all I could from those nice people and decided it was now time that I teach. I have been teaching my adversaries ever since. I founded the LLG so that more people could afford legal representation and be able to litigate issues that affect their everyday lives. We try to do this by making litigation more affordable, thereby allowing more people to be able to afford legal services.

J. Jeffrey Morris is a practicing lawyer in the state of California handling criminal defense matters.

Armed with considerable experience working for the District Attorney in Sacramento, CA and her voluminous representation of large corporate clients in the private sector, Jo-Anna M. Nieves has the skills and endurance needed to zealously advocate on her clients’ behalf. The Nieves Law Firm, APC, has effectively and successfully represented clients in a wide range of legal matters in Oakland,CA and throughout the Bay Area.

Daniel Moaddel is a criminal defense attorney serving Los Angeles, California.

Alfred Wiseman is a practicing lawyer serving Long Beach, CA and the surrounding areas.

William G. Panzer is a practicing lawyer in the state of California. Attorney Panzer received his J.D. from the Golden Gate University School of Law.