Robin M. Earnest, J.D., LLM.  After serving as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, and then the U.S. Attorneys’ Office in the D.C., I founded The Earnest Law Firm–an appellate practice representing clients appointed by this area’s courts of appeal. I now serve on the Criminal Justice Act panels for the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth and the D.C. Circuits, as well as the D.C. and Maryland Courts of Appeal. While appellate victories are often rare and challenging, I have  achieved some successes including: conviction reversals, vacated convictions, remands, and government dismissals. In addition to my law practice, I work as an adjunct professor at The George Washington School of Law, where I teach a course entitled Litigation with the Federal Government. 

I have also been honored to have been elected to as chair of the D.C. Bar’s Criminal Law and Individual Rights Community for terms from FY 2021 through the present. From that service, in 2024 I was awarded the D.C. Bar Communities Lawyer of the Year. And in 2025 I wrote the Criminal Law Update for the Washington Lawyer’s “Year in Review” and in 2023 had an article published on  appellate advocacy, and I am the editor and chief writer for the Criminal Law chapter of the Bar’s District of Columbia Practice Manual (2025 Ed.)

My Board service includes: the D.C. Court of Appeals’ Committee on Admissions;  the Lawyers of Distinction National Advisory Board, Appellate Law. ;   and as Historian for The Greater Washington Area Chapter, WLD, NBA (2024-25). I was honored to help organize and moderate a panel discussion on Artificial Intelligence: Diversity and Democracy for the NBA’s 35th Annual Wiley Branton Symposium, and I have been an enthusiastic member of the ABA Litigation Section’s Appellate Subcommittee.

I received my LLM (environmental law) from The George Washington School of Law, and my  J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

LEGAL EDUCATION:
George Washington University Law School, Master of Laws (Environmental Law) 
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law,  Juris Doctor 

ADMISSIONS:
District of Columbia Bar
Maryland State Bar (CJA Appellate Panel member)
North Carolina State Bar (vol. inactive)
District of Columbia Court of Appeals (CJA Panel member)
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (CJA Panel member)
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (CJA Panel member)
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
United States Supreme Court Bar 

HONORS and AWARDS: 
* D.C. Bar Community’s Lawyer of the Year Award 2024  (Criminal Law and Individual Rights Community)
* Lawyers of Distinction, 2024 National Advisory Board (Appellate Law)
* National Bar Association, Women Lawyers’ Division, Outstanding Woman Lawyer In A Solo/Small Firm Practice, 2022 Nominee.

Select LEGAL PRACTICE and SERVICE WORK: 
*  Steering Committee, Chair (2021-present), D.C. Bar Criminal Law and Individual Rights Community
* Counsel,  Committee on Bar Admissions, District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 
Lawyers Assistance Program Team (2021-present).
*  Planning Committee, National Bar Association’s 35th Wiley Branton Symposium, (2024)
*   Board of Directors, The Greater Washington Area Chapter, WLD, NBA (2024-25)
*   Maryland Delegate Alonzo Washington’s Scholarship Review Committee (2020-2025).
*   D.C. Chapter Prettyman-Leventhal American Inns of Court (vol. inactive)

Select WRITINGS and PRESENTATIONS:
*   Author, “D.C. Criminal Law Reform–Under Congressional Shadow,” Washington Lawyer (Nov-Dec.2025)
*   Editor, District of Columbia Practice Manual, Criminal Law Chapter (Publication pending 2024).
* Moderator, Artificial Intelligence: Diversity and Democracy, The National Bar Association, 35th Annual Wiley A. Branton Scholar Symposium (Oct. 2024). 
* Oral Argument Judge, D.C. Cup Moot Court Competition, D.C. Bar Communities (Feb. 2024). 
* Author, D.C. Bar Community’s 2024 Moot Cup Competition, a problem and bench brief addressing whether the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, 15 U.S.C. 7901 et seg. precludes civil liability of firearms manufacturers and distributors for crimes committed by knowing third party users of their weapons.
* Moderator, D.C. Bar Brief Encounters Podcast, A First of Its Kind: The NBA WLD’s Report on the State of Black Women in the Law (Nov. 2023)
* Author, Mirror, Mirror, From the Bench: Diversity in Appellate Advocacy, Washington Lawyer, p. 38 (May/June 2023)
*  2023 District of Columbia Judicial and Bar Conference, “How the Advancement of Crime Victims’ Rights Can Create a More Equitable District of Columbia,” CLIR Community Co-Host (April 2023)
* Author, CLIR Public Statement,  Supporting the D.C. Council’s Review of the Revised Criminal Code Act of 2021 (Bill 24-416) (Dec. 2022)  
*  Panelist, Pathways to Practice, Greater Washington Area Chapter, NBA panel discussion (2022)
*  Author, Student Inclusion Towards More Representative Diversity in College Writing Courses 2019 Annual Conference on College Composition and Communication (March 2019)
*  Author, “Rally v. Riot: When Words Collide”  (a First Amendment problem addressing Free Speech on campuses) D.C. Bar Communities 2018 Youth Law Fair Mock Trial Problem, (2018)
*  See, Criminal Law Blog, “‘A Lazy Hazy Weekend:” An Ounce of Weed Alone Is Insufficient To Prove Possession With Intent to Distribute.”

Illustration285 REV

Contact Information:
Email: REarnest@TheEarnestLawFirm.com
Address:
The Earnest Law Firm
7600 Ora Glen Dr., No. 241
Greenbelt, MD 20768
Office: (240) 442-8984