Brian Mendelsohn

Brian Mendelsohn has spent his entire three-decade legal career as a criminal defense attorney, earning a reputation as one of Atlanta's top federal criminal trial lawyers. He has won more federal criminal trials than most attorneys in Georgia have even tried. From 1995 to 2023, Brian was with the Federal Defender Program for the Northern District of Georgia, serving 17 years as the First Assistant (Deputy Director) while supervising 27 trial lawyers and maintaining an active caseload. As a partner with the Mendelsohn Ertel Law Group, Brian works on state criminal cases in Georgia and federal criminal cases in Georgia and throughout the country.

Throughout his career, Brian has successfully defended clients against various federal charges, including fraud, bribery, drug trafficking, robbery, child pornography, terrorism, murder, firearms offenses, identity theft, and prison contraband smuggling. He has effectively opposed numerous federal and state agencies, including the U.S. Attorney’s Office, DOJ, FBI, DEA, SEC, Homeland Security, ATF, FDA, IRS, Georgia State Patrol, Atlanta Police Department, and other local law enforcement agencies.

Beginning his career in 1990 as a death penalty appeals attorney, Brian fought for individuals on Georgia's death row, removing many from death row and changing the narrative around their cases. He handled capital cases at both trial and appellate levels for over 25 years, representing notable clients such as Eric Robert Rudolph and Brian Richardson, whose cases significantly impacted the prosecution of capital cases in Atlanta.

Additionally, Brian represented four Guantanamo Bay detainees during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, securing the release of three. This work earned him and his colleagues the 2007 Frederick Douglass Human Rights Award from the Southern Center for Human Rights.

Columbia Law School

J.D.

1987 - 1990

University of South Carolina - Columbia

B.A. (1987)

1983 - 1987

Honors: Honors College

Partner

The Mendelsohn Ertel Law Group LLC

2023 - Current

First Assistant and Staff Attorney

Federal Defender Program for the Northern District of Georgia

1995 - 2023

Attorney

Appellate Practice and Education Resource Center

1990 - 1995

2007 Frederick Douglass Human Rights Award

Southern Center for Human Rights

2007

State Bar of Georgia

Member

Current

Georgia

State Bar of Georgia

Since 1990

11th Circuit

U.S. Supreme Court

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