John Wesley Hall, Jr.
Top rated White Collar Crimes attorney in Little Rock, Arkansas
John Wesley HallPractice Areas: White Collar Crimes, Criminal Defense; view more
Licensed in Arkansas since: 1973
Education: University of Arkansas School of Law (Fayetteville)
Call today:
501-263-9917
John Wesley Hall
1202 Main StreetSuite 210
Little Rock, AR 72202 Visit website
Details
A criminal defense attorney at John Wesley Hall represents clients in Arkansas in all manners of criminal charges, including drug, sex, and white collar crimes, and federal criminal charges. With over 50 years experience in over 450 jury trials and over 400 appeals, he was named one of the Best Lawyers in America for about 20 years and the Arkansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers gave him the Champion of Justice Award about 20 years ago. He also earned the Arkansas Bar Association’s CLE Award 30 years ago. For his high ethical standards and long list of successful results, he holds the highest peer rating possible of AV Preeminent* from Martindale-Hubbell.
He is the author of three treatises for lawyers: Search and Seizure (1st ed. 1982; 6th ed. 2025); Trial Handbook for Arkansas Lawyers (1st ed. 1984; 4th ed. 2018); Professional Responsibility in Criminal Defense Practice (1st ed. 1987; 4th ed. 2023). He writes on the law of search and seizure daily since Feb. 2003 at www.fourthamendment.com.
He was a deputy prosecuting attorney in the 1970s and chief of the career criminal division in Little Rock. He is admitted to practice in the following states besides Arkansas: New York, Nevada, Tennessee, the District of Columbia. Mr. Hall is also admitted to practice before a long list of federal courts, including the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, D.C. and Federal Circuits, the U.S. Supreme Court and other U.S. District Courts in Arizona, New York, Nevada, Texas, Tennessee, and Arkansas. He has argued twice in SCOTUS. He is also on the list of counsel in the International Criminal Court. He tried a war crimes trial in Sierra Leone 2004-06 (part time).
Mr. Hall is a life member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (Past President 2008-09), the American Board of Criminal Lawyers since 1984, the Arkansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Mr. Hall earned a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English in 1970 from Hendrix College. In 1973, he earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas School of Law.
* AV®, AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished and Martindale-Hubbell Notable are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell® is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rating™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.
Practice areas
Criminal Defense: White Collar, Criminal DefenseFocus areas
Criminal Law, Criminal Law - Federal, Felony, Murder, Sex Offenses, Tax Evasion, Theft, White Collar Crime
- 40% Criminal Defense: White Collar
- 60% Criminal Defense
First Admitted: 1973, Arkansas
Professional Webpage: https://www.johnwesleyhall.com/About/John-W-Hall.shtml
- The only book of its kind written by an active trial lawyer for other active trial lawyers and judges., Author, Search and Seizure, Fifth Edition
- Arkansas Guide to Executive Clemency, 2010
- www.FourthAmendment.com, Daily, 2003 - Present
- Search and Seizure, First Edition, LCP, 1982; Second Edition, Vol. 1, 1991; Vol. 2, 1993: Third Edition, 2000; Fourth Edition, 2011; Fifth Edition, 2013, Lexis Law Publishing (Annual Supplement), supplemented at www.FourthAmendment.com
- This practice-oriented guide addresses the problems faced by attorneys when serving as criminal defense counsel. It provides trial guidance for striking the correct balance between duty to the client under the Sixth Amendment representing a client's interests, yet obeying the law and maintaining a profitable practice. Topics include the scope of the right to counsel, duty of candor, confidentiality of information, attorney-client privilege, subpoenas and search warrants directed at attorneys, and tampering with physical evidence or documentary evidence. Covers liability issues of criminal defense lawyers as potential accessories, hindering, compounding, misprision, and malpractice for the criminal defense lawyer., Author, Professional Responsibility in Criminal Defense Practice
- A practical, state-specific trial guide designed to be kept at your fingertips, in the office, or in trial. Expanded to 113 chapters on the law and practice of trial preparation, trial, and evidence, you'll find clear, concise treatment of procedural and substantive aspects of trial, plus fast access to the basic principles of Arkansas trial law and the proper application of those principles with the purpose of making your case and preserving the record. Experienced criminal defense attorney John Wesley Hall analyzes up-to-date Arkansas caselaw, rules, and statutes and discusses various topics, Author, Trial Handbook for Arkansas Lawyers, 4th (Vol. 3 & 3A, Arkansas Practice Series)
- Speaker, Legal Ethics and Search and Seizure, Continuing Legal Education /Over 170 presentations in approx. 35 states, Canada, and The Hague, 1983 - Present
- Lecturer, University of Arkansas Little Rock, Graduate School of Criminal Justice, 1991
- Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Arkansas School of Law, Little Rock, 1985
- Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Arkansas School of Law, Little Rock, 1988
- Symposium, 5K1.1 to be Obtained by Perjury--What do, What to Do?, 7 Ohio St. J. Crim. L. 667, 2010
- Professional Responsibility in Criminal Defense Practice (4th ed. 2023)
- Professional Responsibility of the Criminal Lawyer, Second Edition, Clark Boardman Callaghan (West Group), 1996 (Annual Supplement)
- Trial Handbook for Arkansas Lawyers (4th ed. 2018)
- Trial Handbook for Arkansas Lawyers, LCP, Second Edition, 1993
- Trial Handbook for Arkansas Lawyers, LCP, Third Edition (West Group), 1998
- Arkansas Guide to Executive Clemency, 2010
- DNA, Understanding, Controlling and Defeating the New Evidence of the 90s (3 Volumes, Approx. 4,200 Pages), Co-Compiler and Co-Editor with B. Scheck and P. Neufeld, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1990
- Arkansas Extradition Manual, Arkansas Prosecuting Attorneys Association, 1978
- Arkansas Prosecutors Trial Manual, Arkansas Prosecuting Attorneys Association, (Editor and Chapter Author), 1977
- Shining the Light in the Darkness of Guantanamo: the U.S. Criminal Defense Bar Takes on the Un-American Military Commissions, Quebec J. Int'l L., 2010
- Essay, Government Surveillance of Attorney-Client Communications: Invoked in the Name of Fighting Terrorism, Geo. J. Legal Ethics, Vol. 17 No. 1, 2003
- Handling Client Perjury After Nix v. Whiteside, A Criminal Defense Lawyers View, 42 Mercer Law Review 769 (symposium piece), 1991
- Defensive Defense Lawyering or Defending the Criminal Defense Lawyer From the Client, 11 University of Arkansas Little Rock Law Journal 329 (1989) (reprinted in at least six publications, including 2 Criminal Practice Law Review 281 (1990) and on WESTLAW) (Best Article Award)
- In Defense of the Fourth Amendment Exclusionary Rule-A Reply to Attorney General Smith, 6 University of Arkansas Little Rock Law Journal 227 (Best Contributor Award), 1984
- The Prosecutors Subpoena Power, 33 Arkansas Law Review 122, 1979
- Official Misconduct Under the Arkansas Criminal Code, 30 Arkansas Law Review 160, 1976
- The Bounds of Prosecutorial Summation in Arkansas, 28 Arkansas Law Review 55, 1974
- Occasional Columnist, Ethics and Criminal Practice Issues, The Champion, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Since 1990
- Lockhart v. Nelson, 1988
- Wilson v. Arkansas, 1995
- Hendrix College, Conway, Arkansas, B.A., Major: English, 1970
- U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, 1999
- President, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2008 - 2009
- Lawyers Assistance Strike Force, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1994 - 1997
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas, 2008
- International Criminal Court, 2004
- Arkansas, 1973
- U.S. Court of Appeals 6th Circuit, 1991
- International Criminal Bar, 2002 - Present
- Nevada, 1993
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims, 1984
- President, Arkansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1987 - 1989
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Arkansas, 1973
- Life Member, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1990 - Present
- Treasurer, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2004 - 2005
- U.S. District Court District of Arizona, 1999
- First Vice-President, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2006 - 2007
- Past President, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2008 - 2009
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Texas, 2003
- Board of Directors, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1997 - 2003
- House of Delegates, Arkansas Bar Association, 1976 - 1979
- U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 1975
- International Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, Co-Draftsman, International Criminal Court Ethics Rules
- Tennessee, 1987
- U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 1995
- American Board of Criminal Lawyers, 1983 - Present
- U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit, 1975
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1976
- Secretary, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2003 - 2004
- U.S. District Court Western District of Tennessee, 1987
- Board of Directors, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, (Other Offices 2003 - 2010)
- President-Elect, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2007 - 2008
- U.S. District Court District of Nevada, 2000
- Board of Directors, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1989 - 1995
- U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit, 1999
- Board of Directors, International Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, 2002 - 2005
- District of Columbia, 1975
- U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit, 1973
- Co-Draftsman, International Criminal Bar, International Criminal Court Ethics Rules
- New York, 1996
- U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit, 1988
- Charter Member, Arkansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
- U.S. District Court Western District of Arkansas, 1973
- Member, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1983 - Present
- Second Vice-President, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2005 - 2006
- NACDL's 22nd Annual Robert C. Heeney Memorial Award for Service to NACDL and the Criminal Defense Bar, 2002
- American Bar Association's Top 100 Legal Blogs, 2015 - Present
- Best of CLE Award, Arkansas Bar Association, 1997
- Martindale-Hubbell, AV Rated, 1991 to date, Martindate Hubbell
- NACDL, Robert C. Heeney Memorial Award, 2002 NORML, Al Horn Lifetime Achievement Award (2016), Distinguished Counsel’s Circle (2016) ABA, Law Blawg 100 (2015-17) (top 100 law blawgs for fourthamendment.com)
- Champion of Justice Award, Arkansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2003
- Outstanding Contributor Award, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Journal, 1984
- Mid-South Super Lawyers, 2006 to date, Mid-South Super Lawyers
- Best Article, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Journal, 1989
- Best Lawyers in America, 2000 to date, Best Lawyers in America
- Recognized as a Super Lawyer 2006 to date, Super Lawyers
- Author of about 18 articles in NACDL's "The Champion," six law review articles, "Arkansas Guide to Executive Clemency," "Arkansas Criminal Justice Directory", Articles
- American Board Of Criminal Lawyers; NACDL
- Past President
These comments were made by fellow attorneys during the annual nomination process.
“He knows the ins and outs of State and Federal criminal defense.”
“Perhaps the best criminal defense attorney in the State of Arkansas. Recognized nationally. Author of two treatises.”
“He is the most important single criminal defense lawyer in the United States. An expert on search and seizure law without peer.”
Office location for John Wesley Hall, Jr.
1202 Main Street
Suite 210
Little Rock, AR 72202
Phone: 501-263-9917
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2006 - 2024