Jose Rafael Ledesma, Austin Criminal Attorney

Jose Rafael Ledesma has lived in the Austin area for decades. Mr. Ledesma is a former Assistant City Attorney (municipal prosecutor) for the City of Corpus Christi, where from 2003 to 2005 he tried cases to juries week after week and handled thousands of bench trials involving Class C misdemeanors. He used that trial experience to join Dunham & Jones in 2006 and to come back to what he considers home. At the firm, he handled DWI and other criminal cases, trying criminal defense cases to a jury, before concentrating his practice on administrative law.

Mr. Ledesma now focuses on Administrative License Revocation (ALR) hearings, the civil proceedings before the State Office of Administrative Hearings that decide whether a driver's license is suspended after a DWI arrest. He has handled thousands of ALR cases across the State of Texas, and he has taught continuing legal education courses on ALR hearings to other attorneys. His goal in each hearing is to stop the automatic suspension of a client's driver's license.

In each case, Mr. Ledesma examines the arrest documents for defects and tests whether the officer had reasonable suspicion for the stop and probable cause for the arrest. His criminal law background shapes those arguments. He does this work because a driver's license is essential to his clients.

Mr. Ledesma earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law in 2002 and was licensed in Texas in 2003. Before that, he graduated summa cum laude from St. Edward's University in Austin in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice. He also happily graduated from Lanier High School in Austin. Outside of work, he enjoys technology and playing guitar.

Jose Rafael Ledesma
Criminal Defense Attorney - Dunham & Jones
University of Texas School of Law | St. Edward's University
Former Assistant City Attorney, City of Corpus Christi

Jose Rafael Ledesma, Attorney at Law