Karl Schwartz has spent his legal career defending individuals charged in serious and complex criminal matters; and representing individuals whose civil rights have been violated by police and other members of law enforcement. He was honored by the Pennsylvania Innocence Project with the Hero of Justice Award for his advocacy that led to the freedom of an innocent man, wrongly convicted of murder and imprisoned for 28 years. He is a founding member of the Firm, which began operating in 2019. From 2010 to 2016, he was an attorney in the death penalty unit at the Federal Defender Office in Delaware, and from 2012 to 2016 he was Chief of the unit. During that period he successfully defended again Delaware's attempts to execute individuals who had been previously sentenced to death. He also worked with Delaware authorities to bring about the elimination of solitary confinement and death row. From 1993 to 2010, he was a trial lawyer in the Homicide and Death Penalty Unit at the Philadelphia Defender Association. He defended numerous individuals charged with capital and noncapital murder during that period. Mr. Schwartz has been an adjunct professor of law at Temple University Law School and Drexel University Law School. He has lectured on all aspects of criminal defense and death penalty defense, at training programs for defense lawyers throughout Pennsylvania and the United States. He is 1983 graduate of the New York University School of Law.