Karl Leonard is a Staff Attorney with the Exoneration Project and a Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School. He represents innocent individuals seeking to undo their wrongful convictions. His clients’ cases frequently involve newly discovered evidence of innocence, police and prosecutorial misconduct, constitutional violations, and other systemic issues affecting the criminal legal system. He has represented clients in state trial and appellate courts, in federal court, before the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission, before the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, and in other forums.

Karl is a 2009 graduate of the Law School, where he was a clinic student in the Exoneration Project. After graduation, he spent several years at Winston & Strawn LLP, where his pro bono practice centered on post-conviction and innocence-related litigation.

Since joining the Exoneration Project clinic as a Lecturer, Karl has worked with student teams at all stages of post-conviction litigation, including investigation, drafting pleadings, in-court litigation, and appeals. These student-driven teams have secured exonerations, certificates of innocence, and other forms of post-conviction relief for many wrongfully convicted individuals.

Karl received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley.