Joshua Mulligan, La Quinta Criminal Defense Attorney, Certified Criminal Law Specialist

Forged in Fire: From Ivy League to the Public Defender’s Trenches

Josh’s journey to becoming a champion for the accused began in the halls of Cornell Law School – an Ivy League institution where he distinguished himself as a general editor of the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy and even published a law review article on First Amendment rights. Yet, unlike many peers, he wasn’t drawn to corporate law or big firm life. Early in his law school career, Josh discovered that his passion lay in criminal defense, in standing up for individuals who made mistakes and now faced the full weight of one of the harshest and most punitive criminal legal systems in the world. He witnessed firsthand how the system can treat a person as just another case number, and he felt a calling to ensure those people had a voice.

That calling led Josh far from the ivory tower and straight into the trenches of public defense. While still a student, he worked part-time for a criminal defense attorney, even assisting on a death penalty case and drafting an appellate brief in a murder case. He spent a semester in the prestigious motions department of the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office, honing his research and writing in the crucible of real cases. By the time he graduated and passed the bar, Mulligan’s path was set: he became a public defender, fighting for the indigent accused.

For nine years, Josh served in Public Defender Offices – first in Tulare County, then in Riverside County – taking on clients who couldn’t afford private attorneys and often had no one else in their corner. He tried case after case in front of juries, over 50 trials in total, ranging from run-of-the-mill misdemeanors to the most serious felonies. DUI, domestic violence, sexual assault, child molestation, mayhem, murder – you name it, Josh has fought it out in court. And through those battles, he obtained dozens of “not guilty” verdicts for his clients and hundreds of cases dismissed before trial. Each victory was not just a legal outcome but a human life given a second chance. Each loss only steeled his resolve to fight harder the next time.

Forged in this fire of public defense, Mulligan emerged hardened and savvy. He learned to think on his feet and face down aggressive prosecutors; he learned how to speak to juries in plain, human terms; he learned that justice isn’t given – it’s fought for, case by case, story by story. By the time he left the public defender’s office to enter private practice, Josh had shown a vigor and ability that few young attorneys could match, with a track record of jury acquittals in cases others deemed hopeless.

Turning Stories into Justice – The Trial Lawyers College Influence

What makes Joshua Mulligan stand out is not only his experience, but his philosophy of defense. He doesn’t see a case as a dry set of facts; he sees a story, a human story, that needs to be heard. This deeply human approach was cemented when Josh attended Gerry Spence’s Trial Lawyers College in Wyoming – an intensive, soul-searching trial advocacy program founded by the legendary trial lawyer known for defending the underdog. In September 2017, Josh spent weeks on a rustic ranch with fellow trial attorneys, training under master storytellers and learning how to turn a client’s story into something real, something alive in the courtroom. It wasn’t enough to know the law he had to learn how to make jurors feel the truth of his client’s experience.

At the Trial Lawyers College, Josh absorbed the lesson that a case is won not just with evidence, but with authentic connection. He practiced listening deeply to clients, understanding their fears and hopes, and then channeling those human elements into a compelling narrative at trial. He learned to make your case hit home, where it matters most – in the heart. If you can get a juror to truly see your client as a fellow human being – to feel their story – then it’s not just a defense, it’s a truth that demands justice.

Josh took that philosophy to heart. He has since continued to train in and apply the Trial Lawyers College methods, making them a core part of his practice. Step into his office, and you won’t find an impersonal attorney who just talks at you. You’ll find someone who listens. Someone who can patiently sift through the pain and confusion of what you’re facing and find the threads of a story that he can bring to life for a jury. Mulligan strives to form real human connections with his clients, because he genuinely believes that understanding a client’s life is the key to defending them effectively. He often says that he represents people. Every client is a universe of experiences, and Josh makes it his mission to learn what makes each person unique, and how

they came to this difficult crossroads. Mulligan injects humanity into a cold and mechanistic legal system.

Fierce Advocate with a Human Touch – What Sets Josh Apart

Josh’s edge is simple but rare: he sees the person first and the charges second. Years in the public-defender trenches taught him that dignity can still thrive in a system designed to strip it away. He listens hard, digs for the human story beneath the police report, and turns that story into a defense jurors can feel. Prosecutors know he won’t be bullied, and judges know he arrives prepared, precise, and polite—yet utterly relentless when justice demands it. Clients sense the difference right away. Josh explains the stakes without scare tactics and shoulders the weight of a family’s worry as if it were his own. Colleagues describe him as the lawyer who tackles the “impossible” cases and somehow finds daylight. That combination of empathy, creativity, and iron resolve makes him the ally you want when the state lines up against you. With Mulligan at your side, your darkest moment becomes a fight for redemption—waged by an advocate who crafts law into story and story into justice.