RICHARD WAGNER - TRIAL LAWYER
Attorney Richard Wagner has devoted his entire legal career to upholding and defending the United States Constitution throughout the Great State of California. The Law Office of Richard Wagner, A Professional Corporation's mission is to represent the underdog, to right wrongs, and fight for people who have nobody in their corner. The firm works closely with expert witnesses, consultants, and private investigators to deliver a powerful defense.
Richard Wagner earned his bachelor's degree in 1989 from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his law degree in 1998 from Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California. In law school, his academic achievements included serving on the Law Review and earning the Dean's Merit Scholarship and the Dean's Award for Academic Excellence. He gained practical legal work experience as a law clerk at the Orange County Alternate Public Defender's Office and as a judicial extern to the Honorable Justice Edward Wallin (Ret.), California Court of Appeal, both in Santa Ana, California.
After graduating from law school and passing the California Bar Exam on his first attempt, Richard Wagner worked for two years as a criminal prosecutor for the Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney, prosecuting thousands of criminal cases including DUI, drunk driving, domestic violence, prostitution, vandalism, assault and battery, and firearms cases in downtown LA.
Richard Wagner lectured at Parker Center, former LAPD headquarters, to Los Angeles Police Department officers during the Impaired Driver Apprehension Program (IDAP) on "Case Preparation and Courtroom Testimony Training." He also lectured at the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Trial Advocacy Project (TAP) in May 2000 and March 2001, and presented "What to Do If You Are Arrested for Drunk Driving" at Whittier Law School in 2006.
Since 2002, Richard Wagner has been a DUI criminal defense attorney in private practice. He has shown his dedication to the profession by completing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing course, and in June 2026 completed the hands-on 40-hour Forensic Chromatography XXXV: Theory and Practice course at Axion Analytical Laboratories, earning a Certificate of Recognition from the Axion Training Institute, Inc.
In addition to representing privately retained clients, Richard Wagner is listed on the Los Angeles County panel of attorneys authorized to accept court-appointed criminal defense cases through the Independent Defense Counsel Office (IDCO), established under the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office. Richard Wagner has handled more than 2,200 Southern California criminal defense and DUI cases, resulting in excellent results for his clients, including not guilty verdicts, acquittals, dismissals, and reductions of charges.
In one instance, Richard Wagner won a jury trial in Newport Beach for a woman accused by the Orange County DA of driving under the influence of alcohol and refusing to take a breath or blood test in Corona Del Mar. In another, he got a man's DUI case dismissed after being charged by the Los Angeles DA with DUI and driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.08% or more, at the Compton Courthouse after two jury trials ended in hung juries. In another DUI case, he won a jury trial in Whittier for a man accused by the LA District Attorney of DUI with a prior conviction, defending against evidence that his client caused a traffic accident, failed the field sobriety tests, and had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.19% measured by blood test.
Attorney Wagner's victories include a complete dismissal of felony charges for a client facing significant state prison time and lifetime drug registration, accused by the San Bernardino District Attorney of second degree commercial burglary, transportation of marijuana for sale, and possession of marijuana for sale, in the San Bernardino Superior Court. He also persuaded the LA District Attorney to dismiss serious felony sex charges in Bellflower, avoiding prison and sex registration for his client. His full record of case results is available at criminaldefensestrikeforce.com/case-results.
Mr. Wagner is committed to representing people across Orange County, California, for DUI, including those arrested by the Orange County Sheriff's Department in Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, and San Juan Capistrano; or those arrested by local police departments in Anaheim, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Orange, Placentia, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Tustin, and Westminster.
Richard Wagner defends clients in Federal Court in the Central and Southern Districts of the United States District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, and in all state courts throughout California. He has successfully represented clients in criminal and DUI cases in Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Joaquin, San Bernardino, Riverside, Tulare, Imperial, and San Diego Counties.
AWARDS & ACCOLADES:
Richard Wagner holds an Avvo Rating of "Superb" (10.0/10.0) and maintains a 5.0 average rating across 61 Google Reviews. He has been recognized for his trial work by Super Lawyers from 2025 to 2027 for Criminal Defense: DUI/DWI, selected into the List of The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100, selected for inclusion in the National Association of Distinguished Counsel's "Nation's Top One Percent", and recognized by the American Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys as one of its "10 Best" Criminal Law Attorneys.
He is a member of the American Bar Association, State Bar of California, the California Public Defenders Association, the California DUI Lawyers Association (CDLA), the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (CACJ), the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), the National College for DUI Defense (NCDD), the National Lawyers Guild, the Newport Harbor Bar Association, the Orange County Bar Association, and the William P. Gray Legion Lex American Inn of Court.
