History
Two Complementary Legal Strengths
James Czarnecki and Genevieve Taylor complement each other because they bring different, but highly compatible, strengths to criminal defense. James’s career has developed a particular depth in criminal appellate litigation, post-conviction matters, complex legal research, constitutional issues, and high-level trial advocacy, while Genevieve brings nearly two decades of legal experience, extensive courtroom experience, judicial experience as a magistrate, broad criminal-defense practice, and a strong understanding of the day-to-day operation of Michigan’s courts. James’s analytical and appellate-focused approach pairs naturally with Genevieve’s practical courtroom perspective, persistence, and experience working directly within the judicial system.
Together, they can look at a case from multiple angles—identifying legal and constitutional issues that may otherwise be overlooked while also developing practical strategies for negotiations, motions, hearings, trials, sentencing, and post-conviction relief. Their partnership therefore provides clients with something particularly valuable: two experienced attorneys with different perspectives, working toward the same objective and challenging each other to find the strongest possible legal strategy.
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Attorneys
Founding partner
James E. Czarnecki II
Michigan Criminal Defense Attorney, Trial Lawyer & Appellate Advocate
When Your Freedom Is at Stake, Experience Matters.
If you are searching for a Michigan criminal defense attorney, Michigan criminal appeals attorney, or Michigan appellate lawyer, you are probably looking for more than someone who will simply appear in court.
You need an attorney who knows how to investigate a case, challenge the prosecution's evidence, recognize constitutional violations, litigate aggressively, negotiate when negotiation makes sense, and—when necessary—take a case all the way through trial and appeal.
James E. Czarnecki II has spent his entire legal career doing exactly that.
James Czarnecki is a Michigan criminal defense attorney and founding partner of Czarnecki & Taylor PLLC, a criminal defense firm representing clients throughout Michigan. He has litigated more than 1,000 cases, handling everything from misdemeanor and traffic offenses to some of the most serious felony charges, including homicide, criminal sexual conduct, attempted murder, controlled-substance offenses, armed robbery, weapons offenses, and federal crimes.
His experience extends from the trial courtroom to the Michigan Court of Appeals, Michigan Supreme Court, and federal courts. He has represented clients in direct appeals, post-conviction proceedings, motions for relief from judgment, and other matters seeking to overturn convictions, obtain new trials, correct unlawful sentences, or otherwise obtain relief from an unjust result.
A Career Built Around Criminal Defense
James Czarnecki was born and raised in Michigan and has dedicated his professional career to criminal law.
He graduated from Wayne State University in 2001 with both a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. While an undergraduate, he received Wayne State University's first undergraduate research grant for criminal justice. His research focused on community policing, and he presented his work at a discussion forum at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
He earned his Juris Doctor from Wayne State University Law School in 2004, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Moot Court program. During law school, he gained experience with three organizations that provided an unusually broad foundation for a future criminal defense lawyer:
State Appellate Defender Office
Federal Defender Office
Wayne County Prosecutor's Office
That early experience allowed James to see criminal cases from multiple perspectives—prosecution, indigent defense, state appellate defense, and federal criminal defense.
An Appellate Lawyer Who Started His Career Doing Complex Criminal Appeals
After graduating from law school, James began his legal career working on criminal appeals.
He later spent nearly ten years at a well-known Detroit-area law firm, where he became head of the criminal department. During that time, he developed extensive experience analyzing trial records, researching constitutional issues, writing appellate briefs, litigating criminal cases, and identifying errors that could change the outcome of a case.
He also volunteered his legal services to assist the ACLU with criminal cases, further developing his experience with constitutional litigation and appellate advocacy. While volunteering his time on ACLU criminal cases regarding constitutional rights, working with a legal team, the ACLU enforced a defendant’s rights to counsel after a plea based appeal.
James has spent two decades studying criminal appeals understands that sometimes the most important issue in a criminal case is not obvious from the verdict. It may be buried in a transcript, an evidentiary ruling, a constitutional objection, a sentencing calculation, an ineffective-assistance claim, or something that happened before trial.
James has litigated more than 1,000 criminal cases in the trial court throughout his career. His first trial immediately after law school involved an attempted-murder charge. The result?
Not guilty.
Since then, he has continued to litigate felony and misdemeanor cases through verdict, including cases involving multiple criminal sexual conduct charges, assault with intent to murder, domestic assault, assault and battery, and other serious offenses. He has also successfully litigated motions resulting in dismissals and suppression of evidence involving illegal searches and seizures.
His experience is not limited to negotiating pleas.
When a case should be tried, James has the courtroom experience to try it. When a case can be resolved without a conviction or incarceration, he has the negotiation experience to pursue that result.
And when a conviction has already occurred, he has the appellate and post-conviction experience to examine whether the conviction and sentence can withstand legal scrutiny.
Michigan Criminal Appeals & Post-Conviction Relief
James Czarnecki has substantial experience as a Michigan criminal appeals attorney.
He has handled appeals involving serious felony convictions and has pursued relief in the Michigan Court of Appeals, Michigan Supreme Court, and federal courts. His appellate work has included cases in which convictions were overturned, new trials were obtained, and sentences were reduced.
One published Michigan Court of Appeals decision involving James is People v. Gonzalez-Raymundo, 308 Mich. App. 175 (2014). James represented the defendant in litigation involving four criminal-sexual-conduct convictions and constitutional issues concerning the defendant's right to an interpreter. Following post-conviction litigation, a new trial was ordered. When the prosecution appealed, James successfully defended the new-trial order before the Michigan Court of Appeals, which issued a published opinion affirming the new trial.
This illustrates an important part of James's appellate practice:
A criminal appeal is not simply an argument that the jury got it wrong. It is an opportunity to identify legal errors that may have deprived a defendant of a fair trial.
Czarnecki has a distinctive constitutional-rights background
This is another point that is genuinely significant. Czarnecki worked with the ACLU as a volunteer attorney participating in litigation involving constitutional rights and appellate counsel.
The ACLU's own historical materials identify Czarnecki as one of the cooperating attorneys involved in the litigation surrounding the right of indigent defendants to appointed appellate counsel.
Education & Professional Credentials
Wayne State University Law School
Juris Doctor, 2004
Wayne State University
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, 2001
Bachelor of Science, Criminal Justice, 2001
Leadership & Legal Experience
Editor-in-Chief, Wayne State Law School Moot Court Program
State Appellate Defender Office intern
Federal Defender Office intern
Wayne County Prosecutor's Office intern
Former head of the criminal department at a prominent Detroit-area law firm
Criminal appellate attorney
ACLU volunteer criminal appellate advocate
Member, Macomb County Bar Association
Bar Admissions
State Bar of Michigan
United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan
Contact James Czarnecki and Czarnecki & Taylor PLLC for a confidential case evaluation.
James E. Czarnecki II
Michigan Criminal Defense Attorney | Trial Lawyer | Criminal Appeals Attorney | Post-Conviction Advocate
Founding Partner
Genevieve L. Taylor, Attorney
Genevieve L. Taylor brings a remarkably broad legal background to Czarnecki & Taylor PLLC. Her practice has included criminal defense, civil litigation, family law, divorce, child-custody disputes, probate matters, and federal court litigation. That breadth of experience gives her a perspective that is especially valuable in cases where legal problems overlap with family, financial, professional, or other personal concerns.
Taylor is also a current magistrate serving in two courts, giving her substantial experience evaluating evidence, applying court rules and statutes, managing courtroom proceedings, and making decisions that directly affect the people appearing before the court. Her judicial experience provides a perspective few practicing attorneys possess: she understands not only how to advocate for a client, but also how legal arguments and evidence are evaluated from the bench.
As a criminal-defense attorney, Taylor has represented clients facing matters ranging from misdemeanor and traffic offenses to serious felony charges. She is an accomplished criminal attorney in her own right, with experience handling motions, evidentiary hearings, preliminary examinations, sentencing proceedings, and other contested criminal matters. Her approach emphasizes thorough preparation, practical judgment, and a careful understanding of both the law and the individual circumstances of the client.
Taylor also works closely with her law partner, James Czarnecki, on the firm's criminal appellate practice. She assists with the review and development of criminal appeals and post-conviction matters, bringing her trial-court experience and broad litigation background to cases involving complex legal and factual issues. Her experience on both sides of the trial-and-appellate divide strengthens the firm's ability to evaluate how an issue developed in the lower court and how it should be presented on review.
Her civil practice has included litigation in both state and federal courts. Taylor has represented clients in family-law matters involving divorce, custody, parenting-time disputes, and other difficult domestic-relations issues, as well as probate matters and other civil disputes. These areas require not only legal skill, but also the ability to manage emotionally charged situations, evaluate competing interests, and guide clients through decisions with lasting consequences.
Taylor’s legal career has also included experience with Dickinson Wright, where she interned in a major civil-law environment and was exposed to sophisticated litigation and professional practice. Earlier in her career, she also worked as a gaming supervisor, an experience that further developed her ability to manage people, resolve disputes, apply rules consistently, and make decisions under pressure.
Her commitment to the justice system extends beyond private practice. Taylor has participated in the work of treatment courts, including service connected with treatment-court boards and programs focused on rehabilitation, accountability, and long-term outcomes. That experience has given her firsthand insight into how courts can address the underlying issues that often contribute to repeated involvement in the criminal justice system.
Taylor has also served on the Lakeview Public Schools Board of Education, reflecting a longstanding commitment to public service and to the community in which she lives and practices. Her work in education, treatment courts, and the judiciary complements her legal career and reflects an understanding that the law operates within a larger community.
At Czarnecki & Taylor PLLC, Genevieve Taylor brings together the experience of a trial lawyer, civil litigator, family-law attorney, criminal-defense attorney, federal practitioner, magistrate, and public servant. That combination allows her to approach cases from multiple perspectives and to provide clients with practical, thoughtful, and experienced representation when the stakes are high.
Education
COOLEY LAW SCHOOL
Juris Doctor, 2008
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
B.A., Mathematics, 2003
Activities & Affiliations
Macomb County Bar Association
Indigent Criminal Defense Panel
Swift & Sure Program (alternative to incarceration) - Macomb County Circuit Court
Animal Law Section State Bar of Michigan
Criminal Law Section State Bar of Michigan
Former President of Macomb Community Drug Courts - Macomb County Circuit Court
Member of the task force to implement Constitutional standards in Macomb’s public defense to increase the quality of criminal defense representation
Bar Admissions
• State of Michigan and Federal Court Eastern District of Michigan