Johnny Lanzillo

Meet Johnny Lanzillo

John “Johnny” Lanzillo IV was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. While growing up, Johnny worked diligently at whatever tasks he has set his mind to, including playing baseball and the drums. While in high school, Johnny was a member of several different rock bands that played shows on the weekends and self-recorded 2 albums. He was named as the high school jazz band all-star. He also started the high school drum line and Dallas Christian High School drum line still plays beats that Johnny wrote.

Johnny’s determination in baseball allowed him to turn that into an opportunity to play in college when he attended Christian Brothers University and was a member of their NCAA division 2 baseball team, before transferring to the University of North Texas. He still continued to play and was president of the North Texas club baseball team. Johnny still plays competitive men’s slow pitch softball in tournaments nationwide.

While in law school, Johnny continued to show his grit and work ethic as he completed the 2011 Cowtown Marathon. In his last year of law school, Johnny married his wife Holly, and they now have a son, John “JJ” Lanzillo V. They have 2 dogs, Quill and Poptart, and a cat named Max.

Johnny and the rest of the family are major concert goers, and are die-hard Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars fan.

Lawyer Stuff:

Johnny has been named a Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star for 2020 – 2024, and a Texas Super Lawyers Up-and-Coming 100 for 2023-2024. He is also rated a 10.0 with both AVVO and Justia and he was named by the National Trial Lawyers Association as a Top 40 Under 40 attorneys in 2016 and 2021.

Johnny was a 2018 candidate for Judge in Dallas County for the County Court of Criminal Appeals No. 2. Although he did not win, Johnny received countless endorsements, including from the Mexican American Bar Association of Dallas, Former Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, the MetroCrest Democrats, and countless other attorneys and Dallas County Precinct Chairs. Additionally, Johnny was deemed a qualified candidate from the Dallas Bar Association’s Committee for a Qualified Judiciary.

Johnny is a trained mediator and has done special work as an agent in sports law.

Experience:

Johnny graduated in 2008 from the University of North Texas with a B.A. in History. He earned his law degree in 2012 from Texas Wesleyan School of Law (now Texas A&M School of Law), and was licensed in the same year. Johnny began practicing law at a general practice law firm in Dallas County as one of their criminal defense associates. He immediately began trying criminal cases and tried to verdict a first-degree felony case within two months of being licensed. Since then he has never looked back.

In 2014, Johnny and another associate split off and started their own law firm in Collin County, where Johnny worked as the managing partner as they tried cases across north Texas. In 2021 Johnny founded Lanzillo Law until Deandra Grant Law recruited him to run their Allen office as their senior associate.

In 2024, Johnny completed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)/International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Program. This training has been a cornerstone in enhancing his courtroom skills through his understanding of field sobriety test administration. In addition he has completed the Forensic Chromatography: Theory and Practice course at Axion Labs in Chicago and expects to achieve the ACS-CHAL Forensic Lawyer-Scientist designation in 2025.