About
Before John Malek ever stepped into a courtroom, he was serving as an ICBM crew commander in Montana. The job was exactly what it sounds like. High pressure, zero margin for error, and the kind of responsibility most people never come close to. That experience shaped how he approaches the law today.
John earned his law degree from Gonzaga University School of Law while still on active duty, making the jump from missile operations into military law through the Air Force ROTC program. He spent the next decade as a JAG officer and dedicated more than half of that career to serving as Chief of Military Justice. In that role, he was the lead attorney on over 100 court-martial cases involving murder, sexual assault, domestic violence, and firearms charges. He knows the Uniform Code of Military Justice inside and out because he spent years enforcing it, challenging it, and holding commands accountable to it.
That work took him around the world. John was appointed as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming. He deployed to advise Special Operations Command Africa after the Niger Ambush, and was later forward deployed to Somalia as the Command Judge Advocate advising the Navy SEAL commander for all of East Africa. By the end of his active duty career, he was leading the military justice division at the busiest legal office in the Air Force and later served as Acting Deputy Staff Judge Advocate across six legal offices in five states. He currently serves in the Oregon Air National Guard as a Deputy Staff Judge Advocate and National Guard Bureau Defense Counsel, continuing to defend service members worldwide.
Built for the Fight
John does not take a case unless he is ready to go to war over it. His clients are people whose careers, reputations, and families are on the line, and he treats every case that way. He has secured acquittals on sexual assault and domestic violence charges. He has won full dismissals and formal apologies from accusing commands. He has preserved honorable discharges and VA benefits for service members who were told their careers were over.
That track record comes from preparation, knowing the system better than the other side, and refusing to let a client get pushed through a process that is not being applied fairly.
