Jacqueline Goodman

Jacqueline Goodman is a criminal trial lawyer who devotes her time to the protection of persons accused of crimes, from the courtroom to policy work, throughout the nation. A recognized leader in criminal legal system reform, she regularly appears on national news to provide expert legal analysis on cases of broad interest and import.

From her office in Fullerton, CA, her cases take her throughout California and beyond.

Goodman was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1994. In 1995, she was admitted to the United States District Court, Central District of California and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 2007, Goodman was admitted to the United States Supreme Court.  Goodman was admitted to the Massachusetts Board Bar of Overseers in 2014.

Goodman earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology at California State University at Long Beach and her Juris Doctor from Western State University, College of Law in Fullerton, California.

Since being admitted to the bar in 1994, Jacqueline Goodman has exclusively practiced criminal defense at her eponymous law firm.

Attorney of the Year

Issued by North Orange County Bar Association · Dec 2011

Wall of Recognition

National Constitution Center in Washington, DC.

Goodman is heavily involved in the national, statewide, and local legal community.

Goodman serves on the Board of Directors, as Founding Chair of Decarceration, and as Co-Chair of the California Trial Penalty Project at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). Additionally, she co-chairs NACDL’s Annual Forensics and Sex Crimes Seminars. She belongs to Women in Criminal Defense, Corrections, Diversity, and Criminalization of Voting Rights Committees.

Goodman is a Past-President of NACDL’s California Affiliate, California Attorneys of Criminal Justice (CACJ), where she served as Chair of Seminars for over a decade. She is also a Past-President of the CACJ Foundation.

Goodman is a certified specialist in criminal law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.

Goodman is the Founding Past-President of the North Orange County Bar Association (NOCBA). 

Goodman belongs to the California Public Defenders Association (CPDA), the National College of DUI Defense, and the Orange County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. 

Goodman is the secretary of GetSafe USA Foundation.

Jacqueline Goodman has provided commentary to The Guardian, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, NPR, and other media outlets on cases in the news. She also provides legal commentary on television for CNN, Fox News, CourtTV, NewsMax, Law & Crime, and NewsNation.

• Earned a dismissal for Chelsea Becker, a mother charged with murder after suffering a stillbirth.
• Successfully defended the “The Irvine 11” in the  internationally renowned free speech case.
• Successfully defended journalists arrested during the OCCUPY LA protests.

Goodman is known for taking on the toughest, most notorious cases, including successfully defending the nationally-renowned Chelsea Becker murder case, the DUI murder of an MLB pitcher, the internationally renowned free speech case known as “The Irvine 11,” and the successful protection of journalists arrested during the OCCUPY LA protests.

Ms. Goodman’s successes in pro bono impact litigation have been featured in the New York Times and on NPR as some, like Becker, have resulted in protections for people throughout the state.

Defending the Accused Online Child Predator: Confronting Changes Involving Lurid Online Communications and Arrangements to Meet a Minor for the Purpose of Committing a Lewd Act

2023 Defending Sex Crimes Seminar, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)

Trial advocacy training for various bar associations from 2008 to present.  

2022 Texas Criminal Defense Bar, Riverside Bar Association (Criminal Section) 

Keynote or featured speaker for Western State University and National Lawyer’s Guild

2012 Annual Convention 

Goodman has guest lectured at law schools and universities, including UCLA Law School, UCI Law School, Chapman University College of Law, and Western State College of Law, and others.

The Forum 

2023 The Case for Prison Abolition

The Champion 

July 2023 The Fight to End Mass Incarceration

July 2023 Solitary Confinement: Torture on Our Watch

The Champion 

 November 2021 Forensic Interview Protocols in Child Sex Abuse Cases 

Los Angeles Daily Journal, Volume — , No. —  

San Francisco Daily Journal  

June 12, 2020 Rule 4 Recission: Unteathered from Reason 

Los Angeles Daily Journal, Volume — , No. —  

San Francisco Daily Journal  

March 19, 2020 The Lag is Real (The Spread of COVID-19 by the Courts) 

Los Angeles Daily Journal, Volume — , No. —  

San Francisco Daily Journal  

June 26, 2020 AB 3070: Addressing Racism in Jury Selection 

Los Angeles Daily Journal, Volume 127, No. 56  

San Francisco Daily Journal  

March 24, 2014 A Curious Case of Jailhouse Snitching (The Dekraai case) 

Los Angeles Daily Journal  

San Francisco Daily Journal  

March 4, 2014 Fernandez v. California: Your Right to a Warrantless Search is Secure  

Los Angeles Daily Journal, Volume 127, No. 13  

San Francisco Daily Journal  

January 21, 2014 Sad, Painful Truth of OC Police Beating Case (The Kelly Thomas case) 

Los Angeles Daily Journal 

San Francisco Daily Journal  

November 2013 There ought to be a Law  (The Michael Morton case and the need to criminalize intentional Brady violations) 

Los Angeles Daily Journal, Volume 126, No. 172  

San Francisco Daily Journal  

September 5, 2013 And Like That, a New Cause of Action 

Los Angeles Daily Journal  

San Francisco Daily Journal  

September 2013 Spit and a Quitter: Confessions of a Co-Conspirator (OCDA DNA Collection) 

As Co-Chair of Forensics at NACDL and former Chair of Seminars at CACJ, Jacqueline Goodman curates continuing legal education for thousands of attorneys across the country.

But she’s best known for her expertise in the defense of persons accused of sex crimes. She has served as Co-Chair of Sex Crimes Defense for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) for nearly a decade.