Michael S. Waddington

Michael Waddington is a criminal defense lawyer and best-selling author that defends cases in military courts worldwide. He also defends military personnel who are under investigation and have not yet been charged. Mr. Waddington specializes in defending serious criminal cases including sex crimes, war crimes, violent crimes, and white-collar crimes.

He has been reported on and quoted by hundreds of major media sources worldwide and has provided consultation services to CNN Investigative Reports, 60 Minutes, Katie Couric, ABC’s “Nightline,” the BBC, German Public Television, CNN, CBS, the 2010-2012 Golden Globe-winning TV series “The Good Wife,” and various other international media outlets.

Michael & his law partner, Alexandra, wrote two of the leading textbooks on cross-examination, Pattern Cross-Examination for Sexual Assault Cases: A Trial Strategy & Resource Guide, and Pattern Cross-Examination of Expert Witnesses, published by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). Both of these books are used by criminal defense lawyers across the United States (civilian and military).

Mr. Waddington’s book, Kick-Ass Closings: A Guide to Giving the Best Closing of Your Life, is the #1 rated book on closing arguments. It has been an Amazon bestseller since it was published in 2018. The book contains nearly 500 pages of Mr. Waddington’s best closings and hundreds of outstanding arguments made by the nation’s top criminal defense lawyers.

Michael Waddington Court Martial AttorneyHe is the author of the bestselling book, The Art of Trial Warfare. (Click here to view the book on Amazon). He appeared in a major CNN documentary, “Killings at the Canal” and some of his cases have been the subject of books and movies. These include the Academy Award-winning documentary “Taxi to the Dark Side” (view trailer), the 2019 feature film, “The Kill Team,” (and the 2013 documentary by the same name), the books “The ‘Good Soldier’ on Trial,” “Strike & Destroy,” and Brian De Palma’s “Redacted.” (De Palma also directed “Scarface” and “Carlito’s Way”) In 2020, he published his first novel, Battlemind, a military legal thriller. Click here to view on Amazon.

Mr. Waddington teaches trial advocacy across the United States. In 2019, for the fourth year in a row, he lectured at the National Trial Lawyers Summit, where he shared the stage with legendary attorneys F. Lee Bailey (one of OJ Simpson’s lawyers), Benjamin Brafman (Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer), Mark Geragos (who defended Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, and other celebrities), Mark O’Mara (George Zimmerman’s lawyer), and Roy Black (who defended William Kennedy Smith & Rush Limbaugh), to teach cutting-edge trial techniques to attorneys from across the USA.

Mr. Waddington gave two lectures at the NACDL’s 2017 National Sex Crime Conference in Las Vegas, NV. One of his lectures, Defending a Military Client Charged With Sexual Assault, was tailored to winning sex crime cases in military courts.

Mr. Waddington was a featured speaker at the 2020 NACDL Forensic Science Conference (via Zoom due to Covid-19). In his lecture, he taught lawyers how to Cross-Examine the Prosecution’s Forensic Experts. He also lectured at the 2017 NACDL Forensic Science Conference in Las Vegas. His topic, Using Forensic Science to Create Reasonable Doubt in Sexual Assault Cases, focused on impeaching rogue sex assault examiners (SANEs & SAFEs) using cutting-edge research and medical textbooks. He also taught techniques to expose forensic psychologists and psychiatrists who testify about junk science, such as “Counterintuitive Victim Behavior” and “Tonic Immobility.”

He is a Life Member of the NACDL and a Fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers (ABCL), the most prestigious group of high-profile criminal lawyers in the world. The ABCL is the equivalent of the “NFL Hall of Fame,” but for criminal lawyers. Requirements for admission include having at least ten (10) years of criminal trial experience. Attorneys must have tried at least fifty (50) major felony cases to verdict and won at least thirty-five (35), at least five (5) of which being capital or life sentence cases.

From 2013-2021, Mr. Waddington wrote chapters in the American Bar Association (ABA) annual book, “The State of Criminal Justice.” This annual publication examines major issues, trends and significant changes in the criminal justice system and is one of the cornerstones of the ABA’s Criminal Justice Section’s work. This publication serves as an invaluable resource for policy-makers, academics, and students of the criminal justice system. In 2016, he published Trial Warrior’s Book of Wisdom: A Compilation of Quotes for Success in Law and Life.

In July 2018, Michael Waddington was appointed to co-chair the Military Law Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). Their duties include training and advising military defense lawyers, both military and civilian, from across the United States. The committee also serves as a liaison with policymakers on issues of military justice reform.