Jonathan Crisp

Jonathan Crisp is an experienced trial attorney who has litigated more than 70 cases to verdict and alternatively resolved numerous others.  Mr. Crisp began his career as an Assistant Public Defender in Centre County, Pennsylvania. He left the Centre County Public Defender’s Office to join the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. In the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, he first served as a Legal Assistance Attorney and then the Chief of Legal Assistance at Patton Barracks in Heidelberg, Germany. As a Legal Assistance Attorney, he worked as a general practitioner in areas such as contracts, estate planning and mediation services. During his tenure as the Chief of Legal Assistance, the Patton Barracks Legal Assistance Office was awarded the Army Chief of Staff Award for Excellence in Legal Assistance for the first time in its 30-year history.

Mr. Crisp then served as a Defense Counsel in Ansbach, Germany, where he represented soldiers at administrative proceedings and courts-martial. He was subsequently selected to be the Senior Defense Counsel in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where he continued to represent soldiers, but also supervised and mentored other trial attorneys. As a Defense Counsel and also as a Senior Defense Counsel, Mr. Crisp was specifically requested by those accused to represent them. Two of the more high-profile cases in which Mr. Crisp was requested by name included a case involving charges of abuse against detainees at Abu Ghraib and a case involving the death of a detainee during an interrogation.

The U.S. Army JAG Corps then nominated Mr. Crisp to be the first Command Judge Advocate for a newly formed general officer command, the 20th Support Command (SUPCOM). As the first legal advisor for the 20th SUPCOM, Mr. Crisp was responsible for establishing effective and efficient systems to ensure the delivery of legal services command-wide. After leaving active duty in 2007, Mr. Crisp joined the Pennsylvania Army National Guard where he still continues to serve as a Judge Advocate.  Mr. Crisp started a private practice after leaving active duty where he serving the individualized needs of his clients zealously and with integrity.  Mr. Crisp represents clients facing military disciplinary actions, to include courts-martial and non-judicial punishment and also assists in Discharge Review Board Proceedings.