ATTORNEY PROFILE

DENNIS JAMES BALSAMO
Attorney At Law
California State Bar No. 197809

Education: Graduated from College of the Desert - Palm Desert CA (1976) with a degree in Administration of Justice (Criminal Justice). Graduated from Santa Barbara College of Law (1999) – Santa Barbara CA with a Juris Doctor degree. Admitted to the California State Bar in December 1999. He holds the rare distinction of having passed the California Bar Exam upon his first attempt.

Military: A Viet Nam era veteran. Active duty Army (1972 -1975) serving as a Military Police Officer. Honorably discharged at the rank of sergeant E-5. In 1980 as a member of the California Army National Guard attended and successfully completed Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia and received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. Honorably discharged from the Nation Guard (1983) at the rank of Captain.

Experience: Riverside County Deputy Sheriff – Indio CA (1977- 1981); Police Sergeant – Pismo Beach CA (1981 – 1984); Criminal Investigator for the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office (1984 – 2002). While employed for eighteen years as a career criminal investigator for the District Attorney’s Office, Mr. Balsamo was involved in thousands of cases in such areas as child support; child abductions; consumer fraud; political corruption; as well as misdemeanor and major crimes including homicides. While serving in such capacity, Mr. Balsamo not only consistently maintain a noteworthy 98% conviction rate, more importantly, he also championed the vindication of a large number of innocent citizens falsely accused of crimes.

Although admitted to the California Bar in 1999, he waited until 2002 before retiring from the District Attorney’s Office to venture into private practice. In addition to assisting in civil litigation matters, Mr. Balsamo reserves a significant portion of his practice towards representing those accused of crimes. He is respected by prosecutors and personnel in both the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo District Attorneys’ offices. His relationship with those agencies continues to be of advantage to the clients whom he represents.

[ Top ]