Jesse W. Isom

Background

Jesse W. Isom has more than ten years of experience fighting for people accused of crimes, or whose rights have been violated by police or while incarcerated.

Jesse left a position as senior trial counsel at a non-profit, civil rights organization to join the Law Offices of Greg Rosenfeld in 2022. While at the Human Rights Defense Center, Jesse litigated civil rights lawsuits in federal courts across the country. Jesse was lead counsel or co-counsel in dozens of section 1983 civil rights lawsuits against prisons and jails, including First Amendment violations and deaths in custody.

Professional Experience

For more than eight years, Jesse served as an assistant public defender in West Palm Beach, Florida. As both a trial and appellate attorney, Jesse defended the rights of thousands of indigent adults and juveniles. Jesse took over thirty cases to trial and won acquittals, including for clients facing life in prison. While in the appellate division, he succeeded in reversing two life sentences. Jesse advanced his trial skills through the National Criminal Defense College’s Trial Practice Institute. His final assignment was as a trial attorney assigned to handle serious crimes cases involving lengthy mandatory sentences, such as homicides, shootings, vehicular homicides, and child sex offenses. Throughout his time as a public defender, he used mitigation, motion practice, and other tools to ensure his clients were afforded the dignity and justice they deserved, and not discriminated against on the basis of race or socioeconomic status.

Education

Jesse earned his JD, cum laude, from the University of Florida, where he was an executive board member of the Florida Moot Court Team. During law school, he interned as a summer law clerk for the Honorable Chris W. Altenbernd at the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Tampa, wrote briefs for state and federal appeals for attorney Sonya Rudenstine, and represented public defender clients in Levy and Miami-Dade counties as a certified legal intern.

Jesse earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, cum laude, from Columbia College, Columbia University, a graduate certificate in Chinese Studies from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, and an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Oxford.

Prior to law school, Jesse wrote news and translated (Mandarin to English) for the Voice of America, did community development work in Tibetan areas of China, and taught English in China and India.

Bar Admissions

• Florida Bar
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida

Contact criminal attorney Jesse Isom today for a free consultation!