Michael E. Lawlor

Mr. Lawlor is a founding partner at the law firm of Lawlor & Englert, LLC. Mr. Lawlor’s practice spans most areas of criminal defense, including State and federal felony trial work, State and federal appeals, and State and federal post-conviction proceedings. Mr. Lawlor also represents several individuals in capital death penalty proceedings.

Mr. Lawlor has substantial experience in capital cases. He currently represents a member of Maryland’s death row, Heath Burch, in post-conviction proceedings, as well as an individual sentenced to death in federal court in the District of Iowa in her pursuit of relief from her death sentence. Mr. Lawlor also represents a pre-trial capital defendant in Anne Arundel County. In the past, Mr. Lawlor assisted in the briefing of two capital murder direct appeals to the Court of Appeals of Maryland and has extensive experience litigating lethal injection claims.

Mr. Lawlor has represented clients in dozens of state post-conviction and federal habeas cases, as well in direct appeals. Mr. Lawlor currently represents many clients with pending post-conviction cases and Motions to Reopen. Mr. Lawlor has also been appointed by the United States District Court for the District of Maryland to represent inmates who have filed federal habeas petitions. Recently, along with Ms. Englert, Mr. Lawlor was able to secure the release of an inmate who was serving a life sentence after uncovering evidence that the State had withheld Brady evidence. That inmate, Louis Batty, served 13 years of a life sentence and is now home with his family.

In addition to appellate and post-conviction matters, Mr. Lawlor handles felony trials in both State and federal court. He tried a capital murder case in Prince George’s County, State v. James Logan that resulted in a conviction for second degree murder (later reversed on appeal). He has and continues to represent individuals charged, in state and federal court, with murder, carjacking, and drug offenses. Mr. Lawlor was recently appointed to represent an individual charged with hostage taking resulting in death, an offense which allegedly occurred in Trinidad.

Mr. Lawlor graduated from the Columbus School of Law in 1997. He is admitted to practice in Maryland, the District of Columbia, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Circuits, and in the United States District Courts for the District of Maryland and the District of Columbia. He is a member of the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys’ Association and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.