Experience. Judgment. Trial Readiness.

Erin Epley is a Board Certified criminal trial lawyer representing clients in high-stakes federal and state criminal matters across Texas and in federal matters nationwide. She focuses on investigation, negotiation, and trial work for clients facing white collar charges, public integrity allegations, violent crime accusations, serious felonies, and reputation-sensitive criminal investigations.

With more than 18 years of experience and over 80 jury trials, Erin brings rare insight from both sides of the courtroom. She began her legal career as a prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, where she specialized in Public Integrity and sex-crimes/vulnerable-victims prosecution and rose to District Court Chief. She later moved into defense work alongside nationally recognized criminal defense lawyer Chip Lewis, an experience that deepened her defense perspective and sharpened her approach to high-stakes state and federal trial work.

Erin later served as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. During her federal service, she earned a Top Secret clearance, served as liaison to the ATF Crime Gun Strike Force, and prosecuted serious violent crime and complex federal matters involving antitrust, extortion, money laundering, and cross-border criminal conduct.

Erin’s defense practice is built for clients facing consequential legal, professional, and reputational risk. She is known for direct advice, disciplined preparation, and the ability to evaluate a case through the eyes of prosecutors, judges, and trial lawyers — identifying what the government can prove, where the case is vulnerable, and how to build leverage before critical decisions are made.

In 2023, Erin was appointed Chief Counsel and Director of the Texas House General Investigating Committee, where she led the investigation and served as trial counsel in the impeachment proceedings involving Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. As part of a trial team with Rusty Hardin and Dick DeGuerin, she examined witnesses and presented evidence before the Texas Senate.

Erin is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a distinction held by only a select fraction of Texas criminal lawyers. She served as the 2025 Course Director for the State Bar of Texas Advanced Criminal Law Course, after several years as a Ballroom Speaker and Federal Track Moderator. Erin has taught Trial Advocacy at the University of Houston Law Center since 2016 and regularly lectures and provides legal commentary on criminal law, trial strategy, prosecutorial ethics, voir dire, cooperation issues, case theory, bond reform, and election-related prosecutions.

Erin has been recognized by the Association of Women Attorneys as a Premier Woman in Law — Houston. She is also a Texas Bar Foundation Fellow, a distinction recognizing professional achievement and commitment to improving the justice system. She is a member of the Houston Bar Association and the Women’s White Collar Defense Association.

Erin earned her BBA in Finance from Texas A&M University and her JD from the University of Houston Law Center. Before becoming a lawyer, she worked in energy trading, a background that informs her ability to understand complex financial, business, and document-heavy cases.

Deeply rooted in Houston and Texas, Erin has volunteered for almost 20 years with the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, including leadership with the Mutton Bustin’ Committee and service on the HLSR Legal Advisory Board.

Clients hire Erin for courtroom command, strategic clarity, and steady counsel when the stakes are personal, professional, and public.