Jones draws inspiration from early brush with lawyers

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Russell Jones’ first brush with the law didn’t exactly leave him with a good taste.

As a young man, he ran a franchise restaurant in his hometown of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. When an arsonist burnt it to the ground, Jones found himself having to contend with a gaggle of lawyers. The results weren’t in his favor.

“The insurance lawyers ended up screwing me over,” Jones said. “After that, I was always thinking: I just got screwed by a bunch of lawyers. I’m going to become one.”

Jones said his work as a defense attorney enables him to take his still-present aversion to established interests and use it in a way that benefits society.

“I’m always trying to ensure the government is doing their job correctly,” he said.

But criminal defense was not Jones’ first choice. Not long after obtaining his law degree from Marquette University, he began dealing with insurance litigation at a firm in Hartford. The work wasn’t to his liking.

So he helped found a firm in 2005. Now he is the principal at Jones Law Firm in Mequon. Jones has taken part in more than 150 jury trials involving everything from homicide to major sexual assault.

His successes led in 2019 to his receiving the Martin Hanson Memorial Prize, which goes to defense lawyers who have won a criminal homicide case—a rare and difficult achievement.

Outside the courtroom, Jones helps run a monthly legal clinic at Serenity Inns, a drug and alcohol recovery program, and is a supporter of the Boys and Girls Club, Hometown Hero’s, The American Cancer Society and Make a Wish Foundation.