Kolsrud Law Offices | Phoenix, Arizona
Joshua Kolsrud is an AV-rated criminal defense attorney, former federal, state, and international prosecutor, author, and nationally recognized legal analyst. He represents individuals, professionals, and businesses in high-stakes criminal matters throughout Arizona and the United States, with a practice focused on serious state and federal cases involving white-collar and financial crimes, public corruption, drug and firearm trafficking, immigration-related offenses, international extradition, and other major felonies.
Mr. Kolsrud brings an unusually broad prosecutorial background to criminal defense. He began his career as a felony prosecutor with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, where he handled thousands of criminal cases, received repeated recognition for outstanding trial advocacy, and was promoted to the Major Crimes and Repetitive Offender Bureau.
He was later recruited internationally by the Republic of Palau to help lead a national anti-human-trafficking initiative. While serving there, he prosecuted complex criminal cases and tried one of the earliest jury trials in the nation’s modern legal history.
After returning to Arizona, Mr. Kolsrud served as Senior Trial Attorney in the Coconino County Attorney’s Office, where he handled homicide, capital, sex-crime, and white-collar prosecutions while supervising and training other prosecutors. He was subsequently recruited to the United States Attorney’s Office, where he prosecuted federal offenses involving drug and firearm trafficking, human smuggling, immigration crimes, financial offenses, undeclared currency, and federal Fish and Wildlife violations.
Today, Mr. Kolsrud leads Kolsrud Law Offices, a criminal defense firm devoted to serious felony defense in state and federal court. He represents clients from the investigative stage through trial, sentencing, appeal, and post-conviction proceedings, and personally leads the firm’s appellate practice. He has argued and prevailed in complex appellate matters before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Mr. Kolsrud is also a frequent legal analyst on high-profile criminal cases and regularly appears on Nancy Grace and Court TV, as well as local, national, and international news programs. His commentary draws on experience from both sides of the courtroom, including years spent prosecuting major criminal cases at the county, federal, and international levels.
He is the co-author, with Robert J. McWhirter, of the Third Edition of The Criminal Lawyer’s Guide to Immigration Law: Questions and Answers, published by the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section. The book provides criminal practitioners with practical guidance on the increasingly important intersection between criminal prosecution, criminal defense, and federal immigration law.
Mr. Kolsrud has received repeated professional recognition for trial advocacy and leadership, including selection to The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Criminal Defense Attorneys.
A native Phoenician, Mr. Kolsrud graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University’s Barrett Honors College and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law.
Bar Admissions
