John Czarnecki

John practices primarily in criminal law, most often representing defendants charged with such white collar crimes as tax fraud, antitrust violations, mail fraud, and health care fraud. He handles matters in both state and federal courts. John has litigated numerous cases involving First Amendment issues and media-related disputes. He argued before the Supreme Court of the United States in Marshall v. Lonberger, 103 S.Ct. 843. He carries the AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review RatingSM by Martindale-Hubbell®.

John lectures frequently on issues of federal criminal law. He has served on the Criminal Justice Task Force for the Northern District of Ohio and has served as a Commissioner on the Ohio Public Defender Commission.

 John is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and has been listed in the annual editions of The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of White-Collar Criminal Defense, First Amendment Law, and Non-White-Collar Criminal Defense every year for the last 20 years. In 2011, he was named “Toledo Best Lawyer of the Year 2011 Criminal Defense: Non-White-Collar.” He is listed in annual editions of Ohio Super Lawyers. Since 1975 John has been a life member of The United States Sixth Circuit Court and in 2007 he received The University of Toledo Distinguished Alumnus Award.

He received an undergraduate degree in 1968 and a law degree in 1972, both from The University of Toledo. John was Articles Editor of The University of Toledo Law Review. Following graduation, John served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Nicholas J. Walinski, U.S. District Judge, N.D.O. (1972-1974). He served as an Associate Professor of Law at The University of Toledo from 1975-1977 teaching Evidence.

Publications:

  • Due Process Rights in Prison Disciplinary Proceedings, University of Toledo Law Review, 1974

Honors and Awards:

  • Listed in annual editions of The Best Lawyers in America in areas of Criminal Law and First Amendment law
  • Listed in annual editions of Ohio Super Lawyers
  • Fellow: American College of Trial Lawyers

Professional Memberships:

  • Toledo Bar Association
  • Ohio State Bar Association
  • Federal Bar Association
  • National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
  • Association of Federal Defense Attorneys
  • Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference, life member
  • American College of Trial Lawyers

Representative Cases:

  • Marshall v. Lonberger, 459 U.S. 422 (1983)
  • Judy v. Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles, 100 Ohio St. 3d 122 (2003) (class action against State of Ohio recovering approximately $20,000,000 for fees unlawfully assessed; the largest class action judgment against the State in history)
  • In re: subpoena/Attorney Potts, 100 Ohio St. 3d 97 (2003) (successfully representing attorney who resisted subpoena for client records)