Meet Halfpenny Law

John Halfpenny is a Philadelphia native, who later lived in San Francisco where he practiced Commercial Litigation and Intellectual Property law, and later relocated to York County, Pennsylvania.  John graduated from The University of Pennsylvania in 1988 with degrees in Psychology and Economics (with a minor in English).  He received his Juris Doctorate in 1991 from The Santa Clara University School of Law, in California’s Silicon Valley, where he was an Articles Editor on the Law Review, a staff writer on The Advocate, and an Evidence and Constitutional Law Instructor in the Academic Support Program.  John began his practice with an international “American Lawyer Magazine Top-100” firm in San Francisco, focusing on complex civil litigation, antitrust law, and misappropriation of trade secret cases.  John was also one of the trial lawyers who represented a California state prisoner in Felix v. McCarthy, a civil rights case filed against California’s Department of Corrections.  After a week-long jury trial, Mr. Felix prevailed on his civil rights claims against the D.O.C. and was awarded a six-figure judgment of damages, costs and attorneys’ fees.

John later practiced in Philadelphia as a Special Counsel and Partner in several leading Pennsylvania law firms, trying complex patent and trademark cases in federal and state courts across the country.  He also successfully defended the Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware in several medical malpractice trials, and was national antitrust counsel to Breitling U.S.A., the American subsidiary of Breitling SA, a Swiss manufacturer of precision-engineered luxury watches.

John now concentrates his practice on all aspects of criminal defense work, child custody disputes, license suspension appeals, traffic cases, DUIs, Protection from Abuse matters, State Bar Disciplinary proceedings and adoptions.  In all areas of his practice, John’s primary goal is to achieve the absolute best result for his clients, whether at a Preliminary Hearing, a Summary Trial, on appeal or in Post-Conviction Relief Act proceedings, or at a child custody conference or a Protection from Abuse hearing.  No matter the case, the client’s interests always come first.

John is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, admitted to practice in all state courts in the Commonwealth.  In his free time, John enjoys playing music with friends, writing short stories and working on the novels he just can never seem to finish.

• Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas

• Former member of the San Francisco Bar Association
• Former member of the Philadelphia Bar Association
• Former member of the American Bar Association
• Former member (and Vice-Chair) of the Antitrust Section of the San Francisco Barristers’ Club

• National Institute of Trial Advocacy (“N.I.T.A.”), 1998
• J.D. – Santa Clara University School of Law, 1991
• B.A. – University of Pennsylvania, 1988