Meet Jimmy Cha: Criminal Defense Attorney

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jimmy Cha and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jimmy, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The most important factor behind my success is actually caring for my clients. As a criminal defense attorney, I actually take the time to listen and really try to help my clients to my full extent. Even if it is time consuming and exhausting, I always take the time to communicate with my clients and explain to them in detail their case. I truly do care. Why? Because I really want to help people. A lot of people have a misconception that all my clients are harden criminals but that is not the case. Most of my clients are working professionals, college students, and young adults. I want to help them get past this and move on to be a productive member in society. At times it can be exhausting because it is hard to separate my emotions from a case but I really want the best for my clients. By truly caring for my clients, I have built a practice that has only gotten better over the years and I am proud that most of my cases come from past client referrals, as it is a testament of the quality of work I do for my clients and that they know they are in good hands.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am a criminal defense attorney at the Law Office of Jimmy Cha, APC. I think what sets me apart from my peers is my background and upbringing. I grew up relatively poor in LA County. I also got into a lot of trouble growing up. At the advice of my brother I went back to school when I was in my 20’s. This was the best decision I’ve ever made. It was me getting into a lot of trouble growing up that made me realize that I wanted to help people like me. I was fortunate to have been given the opportunity to get through school even after years of messing up. So for me, even before graduating law school, I knew I wanted to start my own criminal defense practice to help others with my background and upbringing. Because of my background, I can relate with my clients on a level most attorneys cannot. I think this brings a sense of understanding and caring to my practice on how I deal with my clients, and I take pride in that. It hasn’t been as smooth as I would like to say. There has been a lot of sleepless nights working. When I first started, I literally worked over a 100 hours a week for over 3 years. Not only did I have to work as an attorney but I also had to figure out how to run a successful practice. I had to read and study a lot during this time to really get up to speed on not just the law but also on business matters. It’s hard having your own practice. It’s not like going to work from 9 to 5. When being an attorney is over, I still have to figure out how to get clients, how to market, balance the books and budget. It takes a tremendous amount of time and work. Even today I still work most days. The only difference now is that I can take some time off when needed as my practice is doing really well. I’ve learned a lot of lessons along the way. One it to be always grateful not matter the situation. We are all blessed even though we may not realize it at the time. Being grateful all the time no matter what really helps set the tone on what mental outlook you have on life. It can help you be positive and inspire you to do better and greater things with yourself. Which leads me to the 2nd lesson I have learned. Always give back. I’ve been truly blessed to be where I am today. My law practice has allowed me to give back to the community in a way I could have never imagined. Even though I am busy with work, I still make time to guest speak at different events, juvenile halls, camps, etc. I mentor parolees and work with inner city youth, and a board member at CSIBA (https://www.csiba.org/board-member-at-large-1) where the goal is to help those people with a troubled past get into the legal field. These are just some of the things that I do to give back. Not everyone who reads this is going to meet me or need my services. What I want people to take from this is that people do mess up but the past does not define you. Work hard, be understanding, be grateful, never judge, and always give back. Only good things will happen when you do these things.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Wow, there are so many things to do around here. If I had a friend visiting here the first place we would go is Disneyland if they have never been. Depending on where my friend is visiting from I would suggest snowboarding if it’s in the winter time, the beach, and of course a lot of eating. There are a ton of different places to eat here with such a huge ethnic variety from Indian, Japanese, Korean, American, Italian, Mediterranean, etc.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There’s a lot of people that have helped me along the way. My parents and brother have always encouraged me to do well. Even during hard times, they were the one’s who gave me not only the best advice but the encouragement I needed to move forward. They were always there for me no matter what. Then there are my friends. I’m blessed to have so many close friends from my childhood. They help motivate me to push hard for what I want, and have helped build my practice one way or another, whether it be through helping me develop my website www.jc4justice.com, sound financial advice, or just being there for me when I needed someone to talk to. Some of my professors really belong here too. More than a handful of them were the reason behind the motivation to continue school, and even start my own law practice. So definitely I would not be here today without their support.

Website: www.jc4justice.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jc4justice/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmy-cha-86525639/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jc4justice

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/law-office-of-jimmy-cha-fullerton