McKinney, J. Cliff

John Zwerling, known as an aggressive criminal defense litigator, has a wide range of experience in complex grand jury, trial and appellate advocacy, including considerable knowledge in the area of Fourth Amendment search and seizure law and Fifth Amendment issues. After serving as a Naval Boat Group Commander in Viet Nam, John graduated from the American university’s Washington College of Law in 1970.

John is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and served as President of the Alexandria Bar Association (July 2001 - June 2002). He was the founding President of the Virginia College of Criminal Defense Attorneys and is a member of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (Founding Member), and the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law (Legal Committee).

John has served as an Instructor in Forensic Expert Training (FBI Academy), as well as a member of the faculty for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Georgetown University. John has also served as a liaison on the Task Force on Pretrial Release to compile the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice - Third Edition.