Joseph D. O’Sullivan was born and raised in the city of San Francisco. After graduating from St. Ignatius High School he started college at the University of San Francisco and then joined the San Francisco Police Department at aged 21. After only 4 months at the SFPD, Joe was drafted for Vietnam. After being trained for a few months Joe went to Vietnam and served our country valiantly. Upon returning home, Joe returned to his job as an Inspector and was assigned to an elite detail team focused on high profile cases. Being very well respected as an Inspector he was asked by the makers of the movies Dirty Harry and Bullitt to do some consultation work with both Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen when they filmed these movies in San Francisco. During this time he also was continuing his education and graduated from the University of San Francisco and then Law School.
Upon becoming an attorney, Joe decided to focus his attention on criminal defense. In his career, Joe has tried in excess of 200 trials, over 50 homicide cases, as well as being the lead counsel on several death penalty cases. He has successfully defended all types of people from homicide charges. He has won homicide cases in San Francisco, San Mateo, San Jose, and in the state of Texas. He has also won trials in Nevada and New Jersey. In addition to homicide cases, Joe has handled many high profile cases (molestations, embezzlement, Rap Artists), arson charges, shooting incidents, manslaughter charges, and sexual assault cases, amongst others. Joe has also been featured in articles written by The New York Times, USA Today, and ESPN.com. Joe’s reputation is beyond reproach and has been rated AV Preeminent certified, the highest a lawyer can achieve, for the last 15 years. Well known at the Hall of Justice, Joseph D. O’Sullivan continues to be an extremely respected figure in the San Francisco and Bay Area legal scene.