Timothy Richard Lohraff

I grew up in Michigan and knew I would go to law school after reading a biography of famous Chicago defense attorney Clarence Darrow. His stands for union workers, against the death penalty and his work on behalf of criminal defendants made him my hero.

After getting my undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan I went to law school at the University of Illinois. Following that I clerked for two different judges on the Illinois Supreme Court, Justice Stamos and Justice Miller, and learned a great deal of how the law works in real life.

I moved to Chicago, home of Clarence Darrow, and got my dream job--a public defender at the Cook County Public Defender's Office. I eventually tried over 50 jury cases, winning multiple cases from DUI's to drug, burglary, rape and murder trials. I was offered a position at a leading progressive law firm--People's Law Office-- that worked for innocent clients and sued the Chicago Police Department for false arrest, police brutality and wrongful convictions. I eventually made partner and was successful in getting an innocent client--Aaron Patterson--off death row after he was pardoned by Governor Ryan, following a successful appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court granting him a new hearing.

I was also able to free an innocent man from serving a 48 year prison sentence for a murder he did not commit by showing that he had been framed by a Chicago Police Officer.  His name was Rene Castillo and the case was People v. Castillo, 89 CR 2461.

In 2002 I moved to Seattle to take a job as an Assistant Federal Public Defender. I worked there for six years, winning a rape trial, and successfully getting a number of cases dismissed.

In 2008 I left the Federal Defender's Office to concentrate on my own practice in Federal Court, representing people in trials and appeals to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Since opening my own law firm I have had success in getting one federal charge dismissed completely (US v. Tho Le, CR12-00041RSL) as well as getting a number of charges reduced and sentences greatly lower then called for by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.