My name is Vijay Dinakar and I am a Bay Area trial attorney with over a decade of experience having handled everything from DUIs to Murder cases and everything in between. I have dedicated my life to representing the criminally accused and take a proactive approach to representing my clients.
“Vijay” is a Sanskrit word that means “Victory” and that is the goal in each case at this law firm: we aim for total victory and will not rest until that is accomplished.
I was born and raised in New York and from an early age, I wanted to be a trial attorney. I was inspired by the historical examples of lawyer heroes of mine like Clarence Darrow, Mahatma Gandhi, John Adams, and Barry Scheck and I wanted to be lawyer not to defend powerful entities like the government or large corporations but to represent individuals against a powerful and overweening government.
I attended Santa Clara University School of Law and while there worked at the Innocence Project where I helped to free an innocent man serving a life sentence for a crime he did not commit. After law school, I worked for the Public Defender’s Office where I represented thousands of people accused of committing criminal offenses.
I started out handling misdemeanors like DUIs, theft and domestic violence cases but quickly progressed to handling much more serious and complicated cases like gang, arson, embezzlement, 3 strikes cases, and murder cases. I have always been a proud defender and never thought of working for the prosecutor’s office but unlike many public defenders, I took a very high percentage of my cases to trial where I had a very impressive record of obtaining not-guilty verdicts in some of the most difficult cases where the odds were stacked against my clients.
After working for 6 years at the Public Defender’s Office, I decided to open up my own firm to provide personalized and aggressive representation to the Bay Area. I have a very effective staff that supports my firm and I work with some of the best investigators and experts in the Bay Area to assist with my clients’ cases. However, unlike other law firms, I personally handle every aspect of the client’s case from the initial meeting to when the case is successfully ended.
My philosophy in handling all cases is to work extremely hard in investigating and analyzing the case, leaving no stone unturned in order to achieve total victory in the case. I have very good relations with my clients and I represent them with the same zeal and passion as I would a brother or sister.
I have been very successful at convincing the prosecutor’s office at the pre-filing stage not to file a case; causing the case to be dismissed if it is filed in court; and obtaining not-guilty verdicts if the case proceeds to trial. I have expert level knowledge of the immigration consequences of criminal cases and have successfully represented hundreds of immigrant clients. More recently, I have used my trial skills to handle divorce matters, domestic violence restraining orders, and personal injury cases.
