About Givelle J.
Givelle J. Lamano built a career that crosses public interest law and criminal defense. She came to the law after undergraduate studies in the sciences and a turn toward public-centered legal work. The path has been steady and practical: study, public-minded practice, then private practice built from that experience.
She earned a Bachelor of Science from Woodbury University in 2004. She later attended Golden Gate University School of Law, completing her Juris Doctor in 2010, where she studied public interest law. Those formative years shaped the kinds of cases she would take and the organizations she would help start.
Lamano opened Lamano Law Office in 2011 and serves as its founder and principal lawyer. Early in her career she helped launch organizations aimed at criminal-justice reform. In 2012 she joined the board of the Insight Prison Project and co-founded the Three Strikes Justice Center. Those roles reflect an interest in sentencing, reentry and the collateral consequences of conviction. She has also maintained a physical presence in Oakland, handling client work from that office while running her firm.
Her professional affiliations trace a consistent engagement with criminal-defense networks. Since 2011 she has held memberships in the California Public Defenders Association, California Lawyers for Criminal Justice, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Asian American Criminal Trial Lawyers Association and the California DUI Lawyers Association. She joined the Alameda County Bar Association in 2013. Earlier honors include membership in the Pro Bono Honor Society beginning in 2008 and election to Phi Delta Phi International Legal Honor Society in 2007.
Colleagues and clients describe work that leans on courtroom advocacy and case-level strategy. She frequently handles matters that involve sentencing issues, DUI defense and challenges to convictions where statutory sentencing structures are at stake. The Three Strikes Justice Center, which she helped found, signals an attention to long-term sentencing consequences and to tools for reducing overly harsh outcomes.
Lamano’s office carries both litigation and consultative functions. She manages case intake, counsels defendants on plea and post-conviction options, and represents clients in trial and appellate settings when required. The combination of public-interest background and private practice has allowed her to pursue cases that intersect individual client needs and broader reform concerns.
As of 2026 she continues to practice from Lamano Law Office and an Oakland location, concentrating on criminal defense, sentencing relief and related post-conviction work.
