ABOUT ERICA
About the Innocence Project Clinic
In 2008, the University of Baltimore School of Law and the Maryland Office of the Public Defender collaborated on the creation of an Innocence Project Clinic. The clinic seeks to identify individuals who have been convicted in Maryland state courts of crimes they did not commit and to provide them with assistance in the investigation of their claims. In appropriate cases, representation will be provided in post-trial litigation efforts to secure exonerations. The clinic is run by an experienced criminal defense attorney with expertise in DNA and other forms of scientific evidence who has secured the exoneration of numerous individuals in the course of her career.
ERICA J. SUTER
Director of the Innocence Project Clinic at the University of Baltimore School of Law
Assistant Public Defender, Maryland Office of the Public Defender
Erica J. Suter is Director of the Innocence Project Clinic. The Innocence Project is a unique and collaborative position with the Maryland Office of the Public Defender and University of Baltimore School of Law. Within Baltimore Law, Erica has the rank of Professor of the Practice and runs the Innocence Project Clinic teaching and supervising student attorneys who handle cases and advocate for reform within UB’s clinical law program. With respect to OPD, Erica provides Agency-wide support and strategic vision to innocence litigation.
Erica works with OPD’s attorneys and staff both on individual cases as well as on broad reform goals. In collaboration with the Forensics Division, Erica serves as a resource and provides trainings to OPD attorneys and staff on relevant social science research (including coercive interrogation tactics, unreliable eyewitness identification practices), incorporating scientific research (including DNA testing) into legal arguments, and strategic ways to address newly discovered evidence. Professor Suter collaborates extensively with the Post Conviction Defenders Division.
Erica joins OPD and Baltimore Law from private practice where she has been widely recognized as an accomplished appellate and post conviction criminal defense attorney. In addition to her private practice, Erica also has experience working with students enrolled in the Making an Exoneree class at Georgetown University and also as an Adjunct Professor at UDC’s David A. Clarke School of Law.
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Prior to her current role, Erica was a Post-Conviction and Appellate Criminal Defense Attorney practicing throughout Maryland and DC. She blogs on the subject and has been quoted in People.com, Rollingstone.com, Fox45, WBAL, and ABC News Australia.
In the decade that Erica operated her law firm, she obtained relief for ten of her clients who were serving life sentences. She has also obtained significant relief for clients who were serving a term of years. Erica previously practiced law at Maryland law firm, Bennett & Bair, LLC, where she focused exclusively on criminal defense, specifically, collateral review and appeals.
Prior to joining Bennett & Bair, LLC, Erica worked for Williams & Connolly, LLP. She has been selected to the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Best Lawyers Under 40, as a Super Lawyer Rising Star (Washington, DC and Maryland), for membership in the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Lawyers, and as a Maryland Top 40 Under 40 Criminal Defense Lawyer.
Erica serves as President Elect of the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association (MCDAA) and is a Council Member of the Criminal Law and Practice Section of the Maryland State Bar Association. She previously served on the Board of Directors for the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of D.C. and co-chaired its Judicial Nominations Committee.
Erica earned her JD from Georgetown University, her MA from the University of Chicago, and her BA from Bates College (with honors). She is admitted in Maryland, DC, Illinois (inactive), and the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.
Previous Teaching and Publications:
- Erica taught legal research and writing as an adjunct professor at the University of the District of Columbia’s David A. Clarke School of Law.
- “Unger v. State, Court of Appeals Decision Vacates Defendant’s 1976 Conviction and Life Sentence” MCDAA Quarterly, Winter 2012-2013.
- “Accountability for Terrorism” Accountability for Atrocities (International and Comparative Criminal Law Series), published in 2003.
Recognitions & Awards
Super Lawyer 2020-2021
Super Lawyer Rising Star 2014-2016
Ms. Suter selected as one of the Top 40 Under 40 Criminal Defense Lawyers in the State of Maryland. Super Lawyer Rising Star Ms. Suter selected as a 2014 Super Lawyer Rising Star in Maryland and Washington, DC. No more than 2.5% of attorneys in a State may be selected.
Best Lawyers Under 40 List
Ms. Suter named to the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Best Lawyers Under 40 list. This year’s list was limited to just 21 lawyers from throughout the country in all fields of practice.
2016 Maryland Pro Bono Service Herbert S. Garten Special Project Award
IN THE NEWS
Click on an article to read more.
April 2021
Maryland Bans Sentencing Children to Life Without Parole
April 2021
Listen: How Banning Life Sentences For Youth Offenders Will Impact Maryland’s Justice System
April 2021
Md. Gov. Hogan Vetoes Bill to Eliminate Life Without Parole for Juvenile Offenders
January 2021
The push to stop putting juveniles away for life
July 2018
Adnan Syed Case Stalled for at Least Another Year
July 2018
‘Making a Murderer’: Lawyer Claims Violent Porn, Back Scratches Implicate New Suspect
April 2018
S1, Bonus Episode – Split Decision – Part 2
October 2017
‘Making a Murderer’: Defense Implicates New Avery Nephew in Murder
June 2017
Adnan Syed: Court of Special Appeals Hearing
February 2017
Man convicted of killing Baltimore police officer in 1977 granted new trial
August 2016
‘Making a Murderer’: What Brendan Dassey Decision Means for Steven Avery
August 2016
What’s Next for Making a Murderer’s Brendan Dassey Now That His Conviction is Overturned?
August, 2016
‘Making A Murderer’s’ Brendan Dassey Conviction Overturned — Filmmakers Scramble To Save Season 2
August 2016
‘Serial’: Can The State Stop Adnan Syed From Getting A New Murder Trial?