Top Rated Criminal Defense Attorney in Fairfax, VA

Trial experience is everything when choosing an attorney.  Mr. Leiva has significant trial experience. He practices in the areas of criminal defense and personal injury.  He has an active criminal practice, representing clients charged with crimes ranging from misdemeanors to felonies.

He often represents clients charged with DWI, Reckless Driving, Assault & Battery, Drug Offenses, Rape, and Murder. Mr. Leiva obtained "not guilty" verdicts and dismissals for clients charged with murder, rape, malicious wounding, abduction, DWI, etc.

Unlike other attorneys, Mr. Leiva posts his jury verdicts and case dispositions on his website for your review. Because of his trial experience, Mr. Leiva is not intimidated to go to trial. He will of course do his best to resolve your case short of trial, but if negotitations fail, Mr. Leiva will be ready to take your case to trial. In 2016, Mr. Leiva had a trial that lasted 7 weeks in federal court representing a young man charged with 2 murders. In 2018, he obtained a dismissal of a murder charge for a young man accused of murder.

Mr. Leiva has experience with personal injury matters involving motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice and wrongful death. In 2016, Mr. Leiva obtained the 7th largest settlement in Virginia for 2016 for a client seriously injured in an accident.

Northern Virginia magazine named him a “top lawyer for criminal defense and personal injury” in 2017 and 2018 and Best Lawyers named him a “top lawyer for criminal defense” multiple years in a row.

An active member of the Virginia legal community, Mr. Leiva belongs to the Fairfax Bar Association, the Virginia State Bar, the Hispanic Bar Association of Virginia, Justice Forward Virginia and the Virginia Coalition for Racial Diversity in the Justice System. He served on the boards of the Virginia State Bar’s Criminal Law Section. Governor Ralph Northam appointment Mr. Leiva to the Virginia Latino Advisory Board in 2019.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in international relations and political science from American University, Mr. Leiva received his law degree from American University, Washington College of Law. He is admitted to practice in all Virginia state courts and before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.