Julia Mezhinsky Jayne

Julia Mezhinsky Jayne is a nationally recognized trial lawyer specializing in white-collar and general criminal defense. Ms. Jayne is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and is ranked in Chambers & Partners for White Collar Crime and Government Investigations. She has been recognized as a Super Lawyer for 17 consecutive years. San Francisco Magazine has celebrated her as a leading woman attorney in Northern California and the L.A. Times named her as a legal visionary in 2023.

Notably, her law firm, Jayne Law Group, has been hailed as a premier boutique law firm in California by the Daily Journal and was recognized in the Chambers USA Spotlight Guide for White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations in the California Bay Area.

A former prosecutor, Ms. Jayne has over 27 years of experience navigating complex criminal cases in both federal and state courts. She has taken more than 40 cases to trial before a jury and skillfully maneuvered countless evidentiary challenges through motions practice.

Ms. Jayne’s clientele encompasses a diverse range of individuals and companies, representing their interests at various stages of legal proceedings, from investigations to pre-trial and ultimately, trials. Her successes span from securing outright dismissals of cases to negotiating highly favorable plea agreements and securing acquittals.

Ms. Jayne’s practice focuses on sophisticated white collar defense in federal courts throughout the country, including matters involving fraud, securities issues, bribery and kickbacks, trade secret allegations, extradition matters, money laundering, tax investigations, antitrust issues, asset forfeiture, and parallel civil and criminal proceedings. She also represents clients in internal investigations, regulatory matters, and sensitive pre-charge investigations where early strategic intervention is critical.

In addition to her federal white collar practice, Ms. Jayne has extensive experience in California state courts handling serious felonies, high-profile prosecutions, and complex evidentiary matters. Her state court cases have included defending allegations involving violent crimes, sexual misconduct allegations, domestic violence, theft and fraud cases, narcotics offenses, firearms allegations, and driving under the influence.

Before founding Jayne Law Group, Ms. Jayne served as a Deputy District Attorney in Contra Costa County, where she prosecuted misdemeanor, felony, and juvenile matters and developed extensive trial experience early in her career. She later practiced at several prominent San Francisco litigation firms before founding her own boutique firm in 2003.

In addition to her defense practice, Ms. Jayne has served as an adjunct professor teaching Trial Advocacy at U.C. Law San Francisco for more than twenty years, where she has trained and mentored future prosecutors, public defenders, and litigators throughout the country. She is also regularly sought by national media outlets to comment on high-profile legal matters, with appearances and commentary featured on CBS News, Forbes, Fox News, Law360, the Wall Street Journal, Court TV, the Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter, and local news stations.

Ms. Jayne is also fluent in Russian.