DC CRIMINAL DEFENSE

Your future is worth defending.

Your clearance. Your license. Your record. Your freedom.

If you've been arrested or charged in the District of Columbia, the decisions you make now will shape what comes next. I bring two decades of experience at the highest levels of Washington law to protecting what you've built — and I'll tell you, plainly, where you stand.

BOOK A FREE CONSULTATION

Or call (202) 596-8140

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Same day callbacks

20+ years in Washington law & policy

WHAT'S REALLY ON THE LINE

A conviction costs far more than a fine.

For people who've built something, the charge is only the beginning.

The real risk is everything attached to it. That's what I defend.

Security Clearance

The job behind the badge

In this region, almost any charge can put a clearance — and the career that depends on it — at risk. Time and strategy matter from day one.

Family & custody

Your children

An assault or domestic charge can follow you straight into family court. How it's handled now echoes there later.

Professional license

Your livelihood

Nurses, teachers, drivers, brokers, and others can lose the credential their living depends on. The defense has to account for the licensure review board, not just the court.

Record & reputation

Your name

What shows up when someone searches your name can outlast the case itself. Protecting the record is part of the work.

Immigration status

Your place here

Many common charges carry immigration consequences far heavier than the sentence. The wrong plea can be irreversible.

Joseph S. Miller, Esq.

DC CRIMINAL DEFENSE

The precision to find what others miss. Now in your corner.

My path to the courtroom wasn't the usual one — and that's what I bring to your defense. For twenty years in Washington, I worked in public policy, including a decade building and running my own advocacy platform. That work ran on focus, discipline, and command of the facts.

It left me with a specific toolkit: strategic planning, project management, data analysis, and real technical fluency. In a criminal case, those aren't abstractions — they're how I take apart the evidence, find the opening others miss, and hold the prosecution to its burden. The law requires the government to prove every charge. My job is to make sure it does.

Read my full story

HOW I CAN HELP

Charges I defend in DC Superior Court.

DUI & DWI

License, record, and job consequences move fast. So should your defense.

Drug Possession

Even small cases can carry outsized consequences. Options exist.

Simple Assault

A moment can threaten a clearance, a license, or a custody case.

Assault on an Officer

Serious allegations that demand an experienced, steady hand.

Domestic Violence

High stakes in both criminal and family court. Handled with care.

Unlawful Entry

Often tangled with other issues. Worth a careful, full defense.

Theft

A crime of "moral turpitude" with lasting work and immigration fallout.

Open Container

Minor on paper, but still a record. Often resolvable.

AFTER AN ARREST

The government is already building its case against you. Don't help them.

Say nothing about the case.

Not to detectives who call later, not to cellmates, not on jail phones — those calls are recorded and used. There's no privilege with family. The facts go to one person: your lawyer.

Preserve everything. Post nothing.

Save the texts, receipts, photos, and names of anyone who was there. Delete nothing — that can become its own problem. And stay off social media; posts become exhibits.

No contact with the complainant.

Especially in assault and domestic cases. A call, text, or message sent through a friend can violate release conditions or become a new charge. Let counsel handle every communication.

Stay engaged with your defense.

Between arraignment and the status hearing, the government turns over its evidence and a plea offer usually takes shape. Check in with your lawyer periodically, respond promptly, and review what comes in together.