Search and Seizure

John Wesley Hall is a criminal defense lawyer and NACDL’s 50th Past President. In 2002, he received NACDL’s Heeney Award, NACDL’s most prestigious recognition. A student of the Fourth Amendment and law of legal ethics in criminal defense practice and prosecutorial misconduct for over 50 years, he has argued twice in the U.S. Supreme Court, authored numerous merits and amicus briefs in the Supreme Court for NACDL and others, and he has argued in five federal circuit courts and three other state high courts. He has made approximately 200 CLE presentations in the United States, Canada, and The Hague. His blog—fourthamendment.com—has earned a spot in the Feedspot Top 80 Law Blogs and ABA Journal’s Blawg 100. As an ethics advisor, Mr. Hall has been consulted by at least 900 criminal lawyers seeking confidential counsel on ethics issues in the United States, Military Courts, Canada, and international tribunals. He also wrote or co-wrote nearly all of NACDL’s ethics advisory opinions to date. He has handled nearly 500 jury trials and over 400 appeals, having made at least 90 oral arguments. He tried a war crimes trial in the Special Court of Sierra Leone in 2004-06 for mass murder and other crimes in violation of the Geneva Convention. His first job out of law school was as a deputy prosecuting attorney (1973-79), and he wrote the cert petition that was granted in Arkansas v. Sanders, but the state ultimately lost. He is the author of Search and Seizure (6th ed. 2025, LexisNexis Publishing), Professional Responsibility in Criminal Defense Practice (4th ed. 2023, Thomson West), and Trial Handbook for Arkansas Lawyers (4th ed. 2018, Thomson West). He is a Fellow in the invitation-only American Board of Criminal Lawyers, peer review listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers, and A-V rated by Martindale-Hubbell. His practice includes trials, appeals, and some post-conviction litigation concentrating in the areas of drugs, sex, violence, and search and seizure.