When the case cannot wait.
High-stakes criminal defense, federal cases, supervisory writs, and appeals — built for the narrow window when the right move still changes the outcome.
Jerome Matthews · New Orleans
One lawyer. Your case. The whole way through.
People call a defense lawyer when something is moving fast: a ruling needs immediate review, federal agents are involved, a loved one is in custody, or a deadline is close enough to matter today.
Jerome Matthews represents clients in writs, federal defense, appeals, and serious criminal matters — directly. The person who answers the phone, reads the record, and stands up in court is the same person. No hand-offs, no layers.
Appeals · Writs
Six fronts. One standard of preparation.
The most urgent cases reward fast issue-spotting and clean execution. Choose the situation closest to yours.
Supervisory Writs
Urgent review for rulings that cause harm now — before the case ever reaches final judgment.
Federal Defense
Investigations, grand juries, detention, indictment, and sentencing exposure in federal court.
Criminal Appeals
Disciplined arguments about legal error, preserved issues, and the record after trial.
Drug Cases
Stops, searches, warrants, lab evidence, and suppression — where these cases are often decided.
Felony Defense
Serious state charges, handled with early attention to bond, discovery, and trial posture.
Pre-Charge Counsel
Guidance before interviews, grand jury exposure, or charging decisions — the case before the case.
The writ is where this practice plants its flag.
Most rulings wait for the end of the case. Some cannot — a denied suppression motion, a bond ruling, a discovery order, a question of double jeopardy. A supervisory writ asks a higher court to step in now, while the harm can still be undone.
That work rewards speed and discipline: identifying the ruling, protecting the deadline, assembling the record, and writing with enough force that the reviewing court understands why immediate intervention matters.
Urgent record review
Orders, transcripts, pleadings, and preserved objections — read with writ posture in mind.
Deadline control
Writs are unforgiving. The first move is identifying what must be filed, where, and by when.
Focused briefing
One clean, well-supported issue beats five loose ones. The application is built to be granted.
The defense starts before the first court date.
Use the selector for a plain-English view of the immediate priority. It is not legal advice — it is the kind of triage urgent matters require.
Stabilize the moment.
Custody status, the next court date, active warrants, protective orders, and communication risks — identified before anything else moves.
Protect the record.
Video, messages, witness names, and documents can disappear long before discovery arrives. Preservation starts on day one.
Pressure-test the State’s case.
The stop, the search, the identification, the statements, the charging decision — every element the government must prove gets examined.
Choose the path deliberately.
Negotiation, motions, trial, writ review, or appeal — the direction should follow a strategy, never panic.
When the government brings its power to court, the defense has to bring preparation, judgment, and a refusal to treat the client like a case number.
The standard this practice is built on
Jackson Square, New Orleans
From the Quarter to the courthouse steps.
This practice is rooted in New Orleans and admitted everywhere the fight can go: every Louisiana state court, all three federal districts, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Local knowledge matters: how a docket moves, how a courtroom runs, what a deadline really means in practice.
Wherever the case sits, the approach travels with it: urgency, preparation, and direct communication from the first call forward.
Talk through the case before the next deadline does the talking.
Calls and texts are answered day and night. Share only what you are comfortable sharing — the first conversation is about timing, exposure, and what has to happen next.
504-247-6411