Jon Zulauf Seattle Clemency Project client and Ronnie Jackson.
Jon receives the President's Award from WACDL
Seattle Attorney Jon Zulauf has regularly been recognized as one of the top criminal defense lawyers in Washington state. He was consistently been honored by Super Lawyers for his achievements, and Avvo has given Jon its very highest rating. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Each year, no more than five percent of a state’s attorneys receive the honor. Jon has regularly been recognized as one of Washington state’s top white collar crime and criminal defense lawyers. He has built a highly successful white collar crime lawyer practice, with a special focus on the defense of those accused of business crimes, white collar crimes, tax fraud, mortgage fraud, bank fraud, insider trading, money laundering, embezzlement, theft, investment fraud and other crimes involving securities.
Best Lawyers named Jon the 2014 Lawyer of the Year for Seattle in the area of Criminal Defense: Non-White-Collar. Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area in the United States received this recognition, making the award particularly significant. In the entire state of Washington only two attorneys, including Mr. Zulauf, were 2014 “Lawyer of the Year” recipients in the area of Criminal Defense: Non-White-Collar. Lawyers honored as “Lawyer of the Year” are selected based on voting averages received during an exhaustive peer-review assessment Best Lawyers conducts with thousands of leading lawyers. According to Best Lawyers, “receiving this designation reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity.”
The 2014 U.S News—Best Lawyers® " “Best Law Firms” survey has given Zulauf & Chambliss a Tier 1 Ranking for Seattle in the area of Criminal Defense: Non-White-Collar. Only eight other law firms in Washington State placed in the top tier in this category. The “Best Law Firms” survey is based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes client and lawyer evaluations, peer reviews from leading attorneys in their field, and additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. The 2015 results featured 12,095 different law firms, ranked either within 182 metropolitan areas in as many as 120 major practice areas or nationally in one or more of 74 practice areas.
Professional Associations
Jon is a past-President of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the chairman of the Federal Bar Committee, and a frequent lecturer at CLE seminars. He is a member of the Washington Bar and several federal bars, and has practiced in the Courts of Washington, Hawaii, California, Nevada, Idaho, Alaska, and Florida. Jon was an invited lecturer at the Washington State Judicial Conference on the topic of diminished capacity.
Education
Jon graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia in 1973, going on to law school at the University of Georgia, graduating in 1976. At Emory, he was the Chairman of the University’s Speaker Bureau. In law school, he was on the International Moot Court team.
After a summer internship with the law firm of Culp, Dwyer, Guterson and Grader in 1975, Jon worked as a law clerk for a King County Superior Court Judge. In 1977, he started a five-year period of public defender work representing clients on a variety of felony charges including five first-degree murder trials. None of his clients were convicted of first-degree murder. Jon entered private practice in 1983, joining Larry Finegold, a former Assistant United States Attorney, practicing in both state and federal criminal courts.
Personal
Jon was born on on Nov 20, 1950 in Ann Arbor, Michigan where his father was an instructor in the University of Michigan Business School. Raised in Ohio, he was the Student Body President in high school.
Jon has been involved in the community as a basketball and soccer coach. He has also fundraised for Little League baseball in Rainier Valley, been a board member for three years with Powerful Schools, and has been a board member for Pratt Fine Arts.