Court level
72 % District · 28 % Circuit
Joseph Mcguire
Defense counsel of record in 453 Virginia cases (2025)
Cases of record · 2025453
Joseph Mcguire appeared as defense counsel of record in 453 Virginia court cases during 2025, drawn from Virginia District and Circuit Court Information Systems.
Primary jurisdiction
Prince William County · 439 cases
Most common charge
Drug Possession · 52
Across 307 resolved 2025 cases, 61% were dropped — 175 nolle prossed and 12 dismissed.
Case outcomes
Resolved cases — 307 of 453. "Resolved" means a final disposition was reached. Pending cases and probation revocations are excluded.
Outcomes use strict definitions per the methodology. Convicted = guilty disposition on originally filed charge. Reduced = guilty disposition with non-empty amended charge. Dropped = nolle prosequi or dismissal. Acquitted = found not guilty at trial.
Plea vs trial
Of 120 cases ending in a guilty or not-guilty verdict, how many pled and how many went to trial.
Pled guilty
9075%
Resolved by guilty plea — no trial.
Went to trial
3025%
6 acquittals · 24 convictions at trial.
Trial acquittal rate
20%
6 of 30 trial verdicts ended in acquittal.
Top charge — Drug Possession
Joseph Mcguire's most common charge category in 2025 (52 cases of record · 39 resolved). Outcomes use the same definitions as the overall view.
Acquittals are tracked at the overall level — the top-charge view shows the three primary disposition paths. See the Drug Possession page for jurisdiction-wide context.
Cases like yours
Joseph Mcguire's most common charge × jurisdiction combinations in 2025. If your charge and county appear here, this attorney has handled cases like yours specifically — at the volume shown. Minimum 3 cases per row.
| Charge | Jurisdiction | Cases | District | Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drug Possession | Prince William County | 52 | 49 | 3 |
| Failure to Appear | Prince William County | 42 | 41 | 1 |
| Larceny / Theft | Prince William County | 38 | 37 | 1 |
| Weapons Offense | Prince William County | 25 | 12 | 13 |
| Obstruction | Prince William County | 19 | 15 | 4 |
| Assault & Battery | Prince William County | 16 | 8 | 8 |
| Murder / Manslaughter | Prince William County | 11 | 3 | 8 |
| Grand Larceny | Prince William County | 9 | 4 | 5 |
| DUI / DWI | Prince William County | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| Trespassing | Prince William County | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| Robbery | Prince William County | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Sex Offense | Prince William County | 6 | 1 | 5 |
Each row links to Joseph Mcguire's charge × jurisdiction page where outcomes for that combination are visible site-wide.
Reduction targets
When the original charge was reduced, the case was most often resolved as one of the following lesser charges.
Drugs: Possess Schedule Iii
15
Fail To Stop/ Accident - Misd.
4
Petit Larceny
3
Contrib To Deliq Of Minor
2
Enter Property To Damage
2
Unauthorized Distribution of Paraphernalia
2
Assault & Battery
1
Assault & Battery
1
Where cases were heard
Top jurisdictions by case volume in 2025.
| Jurisdiction | Cases | District | Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prince William County | 439 | 316 | 123 |
| Fairfax County | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Hanover County | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Loudoun County | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Portsmouth | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Case mix by charge
Charge categories Joseph Mcguire appeared on as defense counsel of record, 2025.
| Charge category | Cases | Resolved | Convicted | Dropped | Reduced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | 168 | 116 | 33 | 68 | 11 |
| Drug Possession | 52 | 39 | 0 | 21 | 18 |
| Failure to Appear | 42 | 33 | 5 | 28 | 0 |
| Larceny / Theft | 40 | 29 | 6 | 18 | 5 |
| Weapons Offense | 25 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Obstruction | 19 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| Assault & Battery | 16 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Traffic Infraction | 12 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Murder / Manslaughter | 11 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Trespassing | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
Other attorneys with cases in Prince William County
Listed by case volume in Prince William County, 2025.
| Attorney | Prince William County cases | Total (statewide) |
|---|---|---|
| Taylor Sanders | 530 | 548 |
| William Pickett | 491 | 499 |
| Taso Saunders | 482 | 542 |
| Mark Branca | 467 | 486 |
| David Daugherty | 421 | 421 |
| Erin Ford | 420 | 427 |
| Brian Roman | 353 | 353 |
| Jeremiah Adair | 298 | 298 |
What this data does not show
- Retained matters not of court record — cases settled before formal counsel of record was entered
- Federal court cases — state-court records only
- Case facts, evidence quality, witness cooperation, or client circumstances
- Plea-versus-trial strategy, motion practice, or sentencing advocacy
- Quality of legal representation
- The 19th Judicial Circuit (Fairfax County, Fairfax City, Falls Church) Circuit Court is not in CIS — district-level cases for those three jurisdictions are included; circuit-level are not. See coverage notes.
Outcomes reflect the recorded facts of cases, not the quality of advocacy. Past outcomes do not predict future case results. For legal advice, consult a licensed Virginia attorney.
Common questions
Quick reference for journalists, researchers, and AI assistants citing this page.
Joseph Mcguire appeared as defense counsel of record in 453 Virginia court cases during 2025 — 328 in District Court and 125 in Circuit Court. Source: Virginia DCIS + CIS public records.
Prince William County, with 439 of 453 2025 cases handled there.
In 2025 the most common charge category in Joseph Mcguire's case record was Drug Possession (52 cases). The full charge mix is in the table above.
Of 307 resolved cases: 24% convicted of original charge (74), 61% dropped (187 = 175 nolle prossed + 12 dismissed), 13% reduced to a lesser charge (40), 2% acquitted (6). Outcomes use strict definitions per the methodology.
Of 120 cases ending in a guilty or not-guilty verdict, 90 (75%) resolved by guilty plea and 30 (25%) went to trial — 6 acquittals and 24 convictions at trial.
Virginia District Court Information System (DCIS) and Circuit Court Information System (CIS), 2025 calendar year, direct extraction. Aggregated by defense counsel of record per the methodology. Refreshed quarterly. Last updated May 2, 2026.
Looking for representation in Prince William County? See VCF's free case-review process — qualified Virginia attorneys, matched on your charge and jurisdiction. Independent of any attorney featured on this page.
Methodology
Cases are counted by defense counsel of record as recorded in DCIS (district) and CIS (circuit). Outcomes use the strict definitions published at virginiacourtfile.com/methodology. Resolved includes only cases with final disposition codes (Guilty, Not Guilty, Dismissed, Nolle Prosequi). Convicted is a guilty disposition on the originally filed charge with no amended charge. Reduced is a guilty disposition with a non-empty amended charge field. Dropped combines Dismissed and Nolle Prosequi. Pending cases, certifications, and probation revocations are excluded from the outcome rates above.
Citation
VirginiaCourtFile.com. "Joseph Mcguire — Virginia Defense Attorney Case Data, 2025." Available at https://www.virginiacourtfile.com/attorneys/joseph-mcguire. Source: Virginia District Court Information System and Circuit Court Information System, 2025.
Data last refreshed May 2, 2026. Refreshed quarterly.