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Lisa H. Schertler

Ms. Schertler is an experienced appellate advocate. She joined Schertler & Onorato as Of Counsel in 2009 after serving approximately 13 years in the federal government, where she specialized in appellate litigation. Since joining the firm, Ms. Schertler has successfully represented numerous clients in criminal and civil matters before federal and state courts of appeals. Of particular note, Ms. Schertler prevailed over the federal government in an important appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit relating to the scope of the federal civil commitment scheme. See United States v. Joshua, 607 F.3d 379 (4th Cir. 2010). Ms. Schertler’s victory resulted in the immediate release of the firm’s client, a military prisoner who had been certified for civil commitment by the Attorney General. Ms. Schertler also has secured federal sentencing remands for appellate clients of the firm. See United States v. Saani, 650 F.3d 761 (D.C. Cir. 2011); United States v. Akhigbe, 642 F.3d 1078 (D.C. Cir. 2011). Ms. Schertler is active in the firm’s federal sentencing practice at the district court level as well.

Immediately before joining Schertler & Onorato, Ms. Schertler served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General in the Department of Justice. In that capacity, she argued three criminal cases before the United States Supreme Court and briefed a variety of other matters in the Supreme Court. Ms. Schertler also was an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia for over a decade. She served as Deputy Chief of the Appellate Division in the United States Attorney’s Office and as a senior attorney in that Division. In those capacities, Ms. Schertler was assigned to handle some of the office’s most challenging criminal appeals. She has argued more than 30 cases in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. In 1997 and 1998, Ms. Schertler served as an Associate Counsel to the President and advised units of the Executive Office of the President on legal and ethical matters. Earlier in her career, Ms. Schertler was an associate at the law firm of Covington & Burling.

Ms. Schertler earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Stanford University in 1988 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She graduated from Harvard Law School, cum laude, in 1991. She guest lectures on oral advocacy at the University of Virginia School of Law and has served as a distinguished speaker within the Bar on the topic of legal writing.

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