John Tello, Attorney

John Tello specializes in the areas of criminal law, personal injury and social security. Formerly a partner with the Law Firm of Chain, Younger, Cohn and Stiles, John formed his own law firm in January of 2005 emphasizing personal one-on-one representation of his clients in Kern, Tulare and Fresno Counties. Mr. Tello was a former Deputy District Attorney in Ventura County and Deputy Public Defender in Kern County. In 1990, Mr. Tello served as appellate counsel before the Fifth District Court of Appeals, State of California in the matter of Jackson v. Pierce (1990) 224 Cal. App. 3d 954 which established the proposition that proof of actual driving (not just proof of the police officer's belief) was needed in order to invoke the operation of the implied consent laws and as a statutory prerequisite to driver's license suspension at a DMV Administrative Hearing.

John received his B.A. Cum Laude from California State University Dominguez Hills in 1975. He received his Juris Doctor Degree from UCLA in 1978 and was admitted to the California State Bar in 1979. He also served in the United States Air Force from 1965 through 1969 as a B-58 Flight Simulator Repairman and High Frequency Communications Repairman.

John is a member of the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, the California Public Defenders Association, the Consumer Attorneys of California, the American Association for Justice, Kern County Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. He has served on the Board of Directors of Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance, the Kern County Bar Association and the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation. He is a founding member of the Kern County Probation Department Mentor Program. He has served as Judge Pro Tem in the North Division of the Kern County Superior Court (Delano) as well as Kern County Traffic Court.

Outside of Chain-Younger, John is a lector and eucharistic minister at St. Joseph's Church, as well as a youth minister in their High School Youth Program. An avid tennis and basketball player, John belongs to the Bakersfield Racquet Club and the S.F.O.M.B.A. (Slow, Fat, Old, Men's Basketball Association). John is married to Patricia and has three children--Sean, Amy & Alicia.

• Jackson v. Pierce 1990