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Welcome to Stobbs Law Offices
About John D. Stobbs, II
I am a lifelong resident of Alton, Illinois, which is located across the Mississippi river from St. Louis, Missouri. I studied at St. Louis University receiving my Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1986 and Juris Doctoris degree in 1989. I spent several years studying in Madrid, Spain, first at la Universidad Complutense and then at a law program sponsored by William & Mary’s law school.
Upon graduating from St. Louis University I returned to Madrid where I worked at Zulueta y Asociados for one and one-half years. When I returned to the United States, I practiced general law with my Dad at Stobbs & Sinclair in Alton.
After a few months at my Dad’s office and since I spoke Spanish fluently I was contacted by the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Illinois to represent a Mexican Defendant pro bono. Because of the result I was able to achieve in this pro bono case, other Spanish speaking clients contacted me to represent them and the District Court began appointing me in other cases.
In part due to being a member of the Criminal Justice Act Panels, I have represented in excess of 600 criminal Defendants in federal courts in the Southern District of Illinois and Eastern District of Missouri. My practice has evolved from representing clients charged with federal drug crimes to white collar cases. As such my caseload has decreased to a manageable amount where I average only 15 open files at a time. This allows me to dedicate the requisite amount of time to any particular case and also to appear in federal court an average of two or three times a week. Over the past 12 years, my skills have developed as witnessed by the AV rating I received from Martindale Hubbell.
I average between one and two jury trials a year and I am proud of the fact that in my first jury trial U.S.A. v. Martinez, 92-CR-40088-JLF where I acted as co-counsel my client was acquitted. I am equally as proud of an acquittal in U.S.A. v. Solares 94-CR-30064-WDS where the Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case was my former trial advocacy teacher at St. Louis University.
I have become a leader in the defense bars in the Southern District of Illinois and Eastern District of Missouri as witnessed by my being a part of the panels to retain and appoint Magistrates Cohn and Wilkerson respectively. In 2001 I began organizing yearly seminars which were dedicated solely to issues involving federal criminal practice in the Southern District of Illinois and Eastern District of Missouri.
In 2002 I began co-hosting an annual dinner honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Dinner draws in excess of 150 people including judges, Assistant U.S. Attorneys and members of the criminal defense bar.
Of all my achievements, I am proudest of spearheading the renaming of the Alton Federal Courthouse in honor of Judge William L. Beatty who was a great man that influenced my life and career greatly. I was initially told that it would be impossible for all of the federal entities to act within the one year timetable I set, and due to the efforts of a great many people, the “Beatty Building” was dedicated within one year of Judge Beatty’s death. Click here to read the article (PDF) from The Alton Telegraph.
| STOBBS LAW OFFICES 307 Henry Street, Suite 211 Alton, Illinois 62002 John D. Stobbs, II PHONE: (618) 462-8484 |
