About Justin
Justin Panighetti earned his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 2006. He is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. His legal education set the stage for a career that has moved between public service and private practice.
He began work in 2006 as a contract lawyer handling family law matters at Lynch, Brewer, Hoffman & Fink, LLP. The following year he took a staff role as a legal recruitment coordinator at New England School of Law. Those early positions mixed casework and administrative responsibilities and exposed him to both sides of the profession: client representation and law office operations.
In 2009 Panighetti joined the Erie County District Lawyer's Office as an assistant district lawyer. He remained active in the local bar and joined the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Criminal Law Section and the Bar Association of Erie County the same year. His membership in the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Family Law Section began in 2015 and continues today.
By 2015 his practice had broadened. He worked as a parent lawyer in dependency/OCY matters for Erie County and also practiced criminal defense with Melaragno, Placidi, Parini & Veitch. The next year he served as a part-time public defender handling juvenile cases for Erie County. Those roles added a mix of courtroom advocacy and client counseling in high-stakes family and juvenile proceedings.
In 2017 Panighetti opened Panighetti Law and has practiced criminal defense there since. His career reflects steady movement between prosecutorial work, defense practice, and representation in dependency and family courts. He maintains active bar memberships in Pennsylvania and participates in sections that align with his work: criminal and family law.
Colleagues describe him as someone who has handled a broad docket of criminal and family-related cases across county courts. He has experience representing parents in dependency matters, juveniles in delinquency proceedings, and adults in criminal trials and hearings. That practical experience informs how he approaches investigations, plea discussions, and hearings.
He continues to operate Panighetti Law and manages cases in both Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. He handles criminal defense and family-related matters at his firm.
