Excellence in Execution and Outcome

Erin Epley is a seasoned trial lawyer with over 17 years of experience in Texas criminal law. She is the founder of Epley Law Firm, LLC in Houston, where she focuses exclusively on investigation and trial work for clients facing complex white collar, public integrity, violent crime, and other high-profile felony matters in both federal and state court.

Before starting her firm, Erin served as both a state and federal prosecutor, rising to District Court Chief in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and later prosecuting violent crime as a trial attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Texas. She earned Top Secret Clearance during her federal tenure and served as Liaison to the ATF Crime Gun Strike Force, prosecuting the region’s most violent offenders.

As a defense attorney, Erin has long worked alongside nationally renowned defense lawyer Chip Lewis, a close friend and mentor. In 2023, she returned to defense practice and established her own firm, where she continues to collaborate with some of Texas’s most respected and innovative trial attorneys, bringing the full weight of her experience and relationships to bear for her clients.

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 of Attorney General Ken Paxton. As part of the trial team alongside Rusty Hardin and Dick DeGuerin, she examined witnesses and presented evidence before the Texas Senate.

A respected voice on trial practice, Erin has taught Trial Advocacy at the University of Houston Law Center since 2016 and frequently lectures on prosecutorial ethics, voir dire, cooperation strategies, case theory, bond reform, and election fraud. She is a regular contributor to national and local media outlets on high-profile criminal cases and legal ethics issues.

Erin is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She has served as moderator of the Federal Track for the SBOT Advanced Criminal Law Course since 2022 and will lead the entire program as Course Director in 2025, heading a faculty of Texas’s top practitioners and judges. To date, she has tried more than 70 state and federal jury trials to verdict.

Erin earned her BBA in Finance from Texas A&M University and her JD from the University of Houston Law Center. She began her career in energy trading before finding her true calling in criminal law — and she never looked back.

Deeply rooted in Texas culture, Erin has volunteered for over 15 years with the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, serving in leadership for the Mutton Bustin’ Committee and as a member of the HLSR Legal Advisory Board. In her free time, she enjoys staying active and exploring Houston’s dynamic food scene.

Clients trust Erin for her courtroom command, strategic clarity, and steady counsel through life’s most challenging legal battles.