About John
John Unruh is an attorney admitted to practice in California and Hawaii. He began his legal career in public interest work and has built a practice informed by early experience serving clients with limited resources.
He earned a B.A. in Art History from the University of California, Berkeley in 2001. He later received his J.D. from The Ohio State University - Columbus in 2006. Those academic years combined a liberal arts sensibility with professional legal training. The mix of disciplines shows in the way he approaches fact patterns and documents.
Unruh took his first legal staff position at the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii in 2006. He spent that year handling matters typical of a legal aid practice, working directly with clients and managing case files. In 2007 he moved to Swords to Plowshares as a staff lawyer. There he continued front-line client representation in an organization that provides legal help to veterans and others.
Those early roles put him in courtrooms and client homes. They also required a steady capacity for case triage, paperwork, and negotiation. He developed practical habits: clear client communication, careful intake procedures, and a methodical approach to assembling factual records.
Across his career he has maintained licensure in two states, which gives him flexibility in where he accepts matters and how he approaches venue and jurisdictional strategy. His background in art history appears in small ways. He often cites an attention to contextual detail and archival sources when preparing cases.
Today Unruh practices in California and Hawaii. His current work reflects the mix of public interest beginnings and broader private practice demands; he handles civil matters shaped by years of legal aid and veterans’ services experience.
