I started The Clements Firm in the beginning of 2011 after years of experience working for Sidley Austin, one of the world’s biggest law firms. For most of that time, I have focused primarily on helping people through tough criminal defense and immigration cases. Through this work, I was recognized by SuperLawyers for multiple years (2014, 2015, 2018). 

I have represented hundreds of people charged with crimes including bank fraud, Medicaid fraud, armed robbery, drug and gun crimes with fewer than 40% of my cases being resolved by guilty pleas. That being said, often a plea agreement is the best way to resolve a case. But to get the best plea offers, you have to be willing and able to fight.

I have also successfully obtained permanent residence after seven years of fighting in immigration court for a person whose misdemeanor convictions would have made him removable through non-LPR (legal permanent resident) cancellation of removal. I have fought the government in federal court to obtain citizenship for a person whose application was denied. Wolde v. Lynch, 166 F. Supp. 3d 70 (D.D.C. 2016).

I have always attended national and local educational seminars to stay on the cutting-edge of legal issues. For example, I attended and graduated from the intensive National Criminal Defense College in Macon, Georgia, as well as undergoing the same Standardized Field Sobriety training as law enforcement.

After I graduated from Duke Law School and clerked for a year at the Texas Supreme Court, I went to work for Sidley Austin. Sidley had a big commitment to pro bono work, which allowed me to help people I never would have been able to help on my own. As a result of some of my immigration pro bono work, I was honored with the 2011 Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award for the out of state division.  

Prior to entering law, I founded computer consulting companies in New York and North Carolina. I designed and developed large scale reliable computer software systems with special expertise in financial portfolio management software and bioinformatics tools.

I graduated with honors from the Duke University School of Law in 2005 and received my B.A. in economics from the University of Texas at Austin.  Prior to beginning private practice, I clerked for the Honorable Scott A. Brister, Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas.

Bar and Court Admissions:
Florida, 2005 (inactive)
District of Columbia, 2007
Maryland, 2011 (inactive)
Massachusetts, 2021
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
United States District Court for the District of Maryland
United States Circuit Court for the D.C. Circuit
United States Circuit Court for the Fourth Circuit

Publications:
The GPLv3 – Legal Risks in Government Applications”, IT Law Today, July/August 2007, with Richard Wilder & Allison Schary

Flipping a Coin: A Solution for the Inherent Unreliability of Eyewitness Identification Testimony”, 40 Ind. L. Rev. 271 (2007) – available here.