Lawyers
Karen A. Newirth
Karen has spent more than two decades dedicated to defending the rights of the accused, seeking justice for the wrongfully convicted, and transforming the criminal legal system. Her unwavering commitment to public interest advocacy and her pioneering legal work have made her a nationally recognized leader in the fight against wrongful convictions.
Before co-founding NEWIRTH LINEHAN, Karen was the founding partner of Newirth Law PLLC, where she successfully exonerated wrongfully convicted individuals and secured over $30 million in compensation for her clients. Her victories there include the 2023 exoneration after retrial of a client in a complex 1997 rape and murder case as well as some of the highest per-year compensation awards for wrongful incarceration in New York history.
Karen’s career reflects a deep commitment to systemic reform and public service. During her nearly decade-long tenure at the Innocence Project, she was a founding member of the Strategic Litigation Department, leading groundbreaking law reform efforts in eyewitness identification, confessions, and interrogations. These initiatives reshaped how courts evaluate critical evidence, expanded post-conviction claims, and helped establish new legal protections for the wrongfully accused. As the founder of the Mass Exoneration Initiative at the Exoneration Project, Karen spearheaded efforts that led to the dismissal of more than 1,000 convictions tied to police corruption in New York City and Westchester County.
Karen began her legal career clerking for the Honorable Whitman Knapp of the Southern District of New York before joining Cleary Gottlieb and later Brafman & Associates. She defended corporations and individuals in high-stakes investigations involving allegations of securities fraud, corruption, and violent crimes while maintaining a robust pro bono practice. Her advocacy contributed to the release of a Tennessee capital prisoner.
A sought-after speaker, writer, and educator, Karen co-authored Eyewitness Testimony: Civil and Criminal and is completing a forthcoming textbook on guilty pleas and sentencing. She graduated magna cum laude from Brown University and earned her J.D. from NYU School of Law.
Charles F. Linehan
Charlie has dedicated his career to advancing justice—whether fighting for justice on behalf of crime victims, striving to correct systemic failures in our justice system, or working to prevent future injustices. Before co-founding NEWIRTH LINEHAN, Charlie served as Chief of the Conviction Review Unit (CRU) at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, widely regarded as the nation’s leading CRU. During his three-year tenure, he expanded the unit to ten attorneys, implemented groundbreaking technological and procedural reforms that enhanced the unit’s efficiency and impact, and secured a dozen exonerations.
Charlie began his legal career at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where he spent 15 years investigating and prosecuting violent crimes, securities fraud, and police corruption. As Deputy Chief of the Public Corruption Unit, he led high-profile investigations, including the inquiry into New Jersey’s diversion of $2 billion in Port Authority funds under then-Governor Chris Christie. During his tenure, Charlie presented more than 50 cases to the grand jury and tried two dozen cases to verdict.
In the private sector, Charlie further honed his investigative expertise at Quest Research & Investigations and K2 Integrity. At Quest, he led critical investigations for the Innocence Project and various civil rights law firms, contributing to the exonerations of George Bell, Rohan Bolt, and Gary Johnson in Queens and Norberto Peets in the Bronx, among others. As Head of Construction and Real Estate Services at K2, Charlie directed large-scale fraud monitoring efforts on major construction projects, including Moynihan Train Hall and the Javits Center renovation.
Charlie is a respected voice on wrongful convictions and criminal justice reform, frequently speaking on the subject, including testifying before the New York City Council. He was an adjunct professor at St. John’s Law School, where he taught a class with exoneree, Jabbar Collins, titled Anatomy of a Wrongful Conviction. He graduated magna cum laude from Washington College with a degree in English literature and earned his J.D. from UC Hastings College of the Law, where he served on the Moot Court Board.