Lara J. Gressley

Biography

Lara grew up in Northern California and received her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Lara attended law school at Santa Clara University. While there, she earned the Witkin Award for her work in Constitutional Law, the Best Brief Award in a National Moot Court Competition, made Law Review, was an Honors Moot Court Finalist, and studied law at Oxford University in 2000. In 2002, she graduated from Santa Clara Law on the Dean’s List and with Honors in Public Interest Law. That year, she took and passed the California Bar exam. Lara first worked at the Santa Cruz Public Defender’s Office, where she gained experience defending people charged with drunk driving and other crimes. Lara then worked for Legal Aid Society of San Diego, after which she took a job in Riverside, California where she worked as a Deputy County Counsel and then as a court-appointed trial attorney for individuals charged with serious crimes. As a trial lawyer, Lara obtained not guilty verdicts and dismissals for many of her clients whose charges ranged from drunk driving to burglary, robbery, grand theft auto, and drug offenses. Lara has also successfully defended those facing life in prison. Lara’s primary objective in every case is to obtain justice for her clients.

In private practice, Lara still practices criminal defense and trial work, and has also become one of the preeminent criminal appellate attorneys in California. Lara has written appellate briefs filed in the California Court of Appeal, California Supreme Court, and in the United States Supreme Court. She regularly handles petitions for writ of habeas corpus in state and federal courts involving questions of constitutional law. In one such case, Lara won a petition for writ of habeas corpus due to a Sixth Amendment Confrontation violation in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Lara has worked on Amicus briefs in some major appellate cases in California, including People v. Vangelder, People v. Harris, People v. Arredondo, and also handled the appeal in Espinoza v. Shiomoto. Lara and her team prepared Amicus briefs filed in the California Supreme Court in People v. Dungo and in the bail case of In re Humphrey. Lara also prepared Amicus briefs filed in the United States Supreme Court in Williams v. Illinois and in Mitchell v. Wisconsin.

Lara lectures lawyers across the state with respect to constitutional law, research and writing, appeals, writs, motions, DUI defense, and trial work. She has lectured for California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, California DUI Lawyers Association, California Public Defenders Association, and National College for DUI Defense. Lara has also lectured at Pepperdine University School of Law. Due to her experience, Lara has become known by her colleagues as a go-to source on motions in criminal cases, appellate advocacy and procedure, research and writing, DUI defense and collateral consequences, and challenges based on Sixth Amendment confrontation violations. Lara is a contributing author for Donald Bartell’s book, Attacking and Defending Drunk Driving Tests, and coauthored California Vehicle Code section 13353.3(c), enacted in 2012. Lara is the past President and current Vice President of the California DUI Lawyers Association, a Regent for the National College for DUI Defense, and a selected Southern California Super Lawyer in Appellate Law from 2020 to present.

Lara is a Christian, a vocalist, and speaks conversational Spanish.

Education

• Santa Clara University School of Law – Juris Doctor, 2002
• Oxford University, Public International Law, 2000
• University of California, Santa Cruz – Bachelor’s Degree – Environmental Studies and Political Economy, 1998
• Gerry Spence Trial Lawyer’s College Regional Opening Statements – 2017

Speaking Engagements & Lectures

• California DUI Lawyers Association, Seminar, Restricted License Laws, 2012
• California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Seminar, Misdemeanor Appeals, 2013
• Riverside Public Defenders Seminar, DUI Defense, 2013
• California Public Defenders Association, Seminar, Legal Writing, 2015
• California DUI Lawyers Association, Seminar, DMV Consequences for DUI, 2015
• Riverside Public Defenders Seminar, DUI Defense, 2017
• California DUI Lawyers Association, Seminar, Winning Appeals, 2017
• California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Seminar, Motions, 2017
• California DUI Lawyers Association, Seminar, Suppression Motions, 2017
• Guest Lecturer, Pepperdine Law School, 2018
• California DUI Lawyers Association, Seminar, Speedy Trial Motions, 2018
• California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Seminar, Defending Marijuana DUIs, 2019
• National College for DUI Defense, Seminar, Making a Record for Appeal, 2020
• California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Seminar, Motions in DUI Cases, 2021
• California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Seminar, Miranda and DUI, 2022
• National College for DUI Defense, Pretrial Motions in Serious Cases, San Diego, CA, 2023
• California DUI Lawyers Association, Webinar, Miranda and DUI, 2023
• Winter Session, National College for DUI Defense – Fort Worth, TX, January,
• Lecturer for Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company, 2023-2025
• National College for DUI Defense, The Power of Persuasion: Negotiation Skills, 2025
• Mastering Scientific Evidence, National College for DUI Defense – New Orleans, LA, March, 2025, Constitutional Challenges in DUI Cases; Defending Marijuana DUI
• National College for DUI Defense, Summer Session – Denver, CO, July, 2025, Getting What You Need from the Judge – Motions in DUI Cases
• California DUI Lawyers Association, Annual Kuwatch Seminar – San Diego, CA, August, 2025, A Look Under the Hood: The Science Behind Defending DUI Marijuana
• California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Richard Hutton’s Rules of the Road Seminar – Palm Springs, CA, September, 2025, When DUI Turns Deadly: Defending DUI Manslaughter and Watson Murder Cases
• 29th Annual DWI Means Defend With Ingenuity – Las Vegas, NV, October, 2025, Honing Your Negotiation Skills
• National College for DUI Defense, Winter Session – Austin, TX, January, 2026, Modern Tools for Jury Selection in DUI Cases
• Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys’ Association, Advanced DUI Defense, Seminar – Baltimore, MD, May, 2026, Constitutional Defenses to DUI
• Kern County Public Defender’s Office, Seminar, Defending Watson Murder, June, 2026
• National College for DUI Defense, Summer Session – Nashville, TN, July, 2026, Defending Refusal Cases: Burden Shifting

Professional Experience

• January 2023 – Present – Gressley & Donaldson, LLP
• August 2010 – October, 2023 – Bartell, Hensel & Gressley
• February 2007 – July 2010 – Law Office of Lara J. Gressley
• September 2005 – June 2006 – Riverside County Public Defender’s Office
• December 2004 – August 2005 – Riverside County Counsel
• September 2003 – November 2004 – Legal Aid Society of San Diego, Inc.

Admissions

• California State Bar, 2002
• United States Supreme Court, 2011
• United States District Court, Central District of California, 2011
• United States District Court, Eastern District of California, 2012
• United States District Court, Southern District of California, 2013
• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 2013

Briefs & Publications

• 2010-2022 – Contributing Author – Attacking and Defending Drunk Driving Tests – Don Bartell, Mary Catherine McMurray, and Anne ImObersteg
• California Supreme Court: In re Humphrey – Amicus Brief on behalf of the California DUI Lawyers Association
• Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District: People v. Harris – Amicus Brief on behalf of the California DUI Lawyers Association
• California Supreme Court: People v. Arredondo – Amicus Brief on behalf of the California DUI Lawyers Association
• California Supreme Court: People v. Vangelder – Amicus Brief on behalf of the California DUI Lawyers Association
• Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District: People v. Superior Court of Riverside County (Ortiz) – Amicus Brief on behalf of California DUI Lawyers Association
• United States Supreme Court: Williams v. Illinois – Amicus Brief on behalf of California DUI Lawyers Association
• United States Supreme Court: Mitchell v. Wisconsin – Amicus Brief on behalf of California DUI Lawyers Association
• United States District Court, Southern District of California: Misdemeanor DUI conviction reversed on confrontation grounds
• Coauthored California Vehicle Code § 13353.3, subd. (c), enacted Jan., 2012

Memberships

• Vice President, California DUI Lawyers Association, 2017-2019; 2024-present
• President, California DUI Lawyers Association, 2019-2020
• Member of the Board of Directors, CDLA, 2017-2021; 2023-present
• National College for DUI Defense, Regent since 2024
• National College for DUI Defense, Faculty since 2023