Carl Lietz

Carl Lietz is a partner at Finch McCranie LLP in Atlanta whose practice focuses primarily on complex federal criminal defense matters in the white-collar area. He represents individuals and entities facing investigations, charges, and courtroom proceedings in the federal system. His work includes matters involving fraud, bribery, public corruption, health care issues, money laundering, and other federal statutes. He has spent most of his career in federal court and is regularly involved in serious trial-level litigation.

Carl earned his J.D. from Vermont Law School in 1995 and a B.S. from Florida State University in 1992. Early in his career, he clerked for Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn of the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama and Judge Orinda D. Evans of the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Those clerkships gave him direct exposure to federal procedure before he moved into defense practice.

Carl later served as a trial attorney with the Federal Defender Program in Atlanta, where he presented cases to juries, litigated evidentiary and sentencing hearings, and argued before the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He was part of the defense team in United States v. Eric Robert Rudolph. His private practice has included lead-counsel work, co-counsel trial roles, pretrial motions, expert-witness issues, and sentencing mitigation in substantial federal matters.

Carl Lietz is a Fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers and has been included in The Best Lawyers in America for White-Collar Criminal Defense since 2012. He teaches trial practice as an adjunct faculty member at Georgia State University College of Law and serves on the Federal Defender Program board. His work combines federal courtroom experience, strategic motion practice, and practical understanding of government investigations, allowing him to guide clients through demanding criminal proceedings.

Law Office Affiliations

• Partner, Finch McCranie LLP
• Member, State Bar of Georgia
• Fellow, American Board of Criminal Lawyers
• Member, United States Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
• Member, Federal Bar Association’s White-Collar Law Committee
• Member, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• Member, Lawyers Club of Atlanta
• Member, Board of Directors, Federal Defender Program, Inc.

Licensed State

• Georgia

Education

• Vermont Law School
  Juris Doctor (JD)

Awards & Badges