About David P.
David P. Shapiro took a circuitous route into law. He completed a B.A. in Legal Studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1999. He studied comparative criminal law at the University of Toronto in 2004. He also undertook legal study at Tulane University School of Law and earned a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law in 2005.
His early career began in public defense. In 2006 he served as a post-bar law clerk with the Office of the Public Defender in San Diego County. That role gave him courtroom exposure and steady trial experience. He moved into private practice the next year as an associate at Steigerwalt & Associates, A.P.L.C., where he handled criminal matters and built his caseload.
In 2010 he opened his own firm, Law Office of David P. Shapiro, A Professional Law Corporation. He has run that office as founder and managing partner since then. The practice handles criminal defense work in state and federal courts. He is admitted to practice in California and the Federal Circuit, and he remains active in local and national defense circles.
Shapiro’s professional affiliations track a steady involvement in criminal defense organizations. He has been a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the American Bar Association since 2006. He joined California Lawyers for Criminal Justice, the San Diego Criminal Defense Bar Association and the California Public Defenders Association in 2007. He served as president of The Criminal Law Society at Tulane while in law school and later attended the National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Georgia, as an alumnus in 2009. Since 2016 he has held a board role with the San Diego Criminal Defense Bar Association and with Genesis Recovery, and he has been listed with the Better Business Bureau since 2011.
Colleagues describe his background as rooted in trial work and criminal procedure. His time in a public defender’s office and subsequent private practice have kept him regularly in court. He handles arraignments, pretrial motions, trials and appellate filings when cases require them. He also works on matters that intersect with federal jurisdiction.
He maintains an active practice from the Law Office of David P. Shapiro, A Professional Law Corporation. His work concentrates on criminal defense in California and related federal matters.
