John G. Swomley is an experienced trial and appellate attorney concentrating in criminal and civil litigation. He has been in private practice since leaving the Brooklyn Public Defenders Office in 1992. John is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, New York, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the U.S. District Courts in the Western, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the United States First Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. He received his juris doctor from Boston University School of Law (1987) and his undergraduate degree from Haverford College (1983).

In June, 2007, John succeeded in winning a new trial motion for Bernard Baran, an innocent man wrongfully incarcerated for over 22 years. Since that time, John has participated in various conferences and panel discussions educating others on how to effectively argue non-DNA innocence cases.

John also devotes his efforts to challenging state and federal civil commitment laws and to representing individuals caught up in them. In addition to training attorneys in New York and New Hampshire in this area of law, he has expanded his practice to represent individuals in these states.

John taught criminal trial advocacy at Suffolk University School (1998-2001) and has been a guest lecturer at various Massachusetts law schools including, Harvard University Law School, Boston University School of Law, and Northeastern University School of Law. In 2005 and 2006, he was selected as a Massachusetts Super Lawyer and appeared in both Boston Magazine and Massachusetts Super Lawyer’s Magazine. In 2000, he won the Paul Liacos Mental Health Advocacy Award by the Committee for Public Counsel Services for zealous advocacy on behalf of indigent defendants. Additionally, John is a member of the American Civil Liberties Union, The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, The Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Police Accountability Project.