Biography

Associate Professor of Law

B.A, 1993, Wesleyan University

M.A., 1996, George Washington School of Political Management

J.D., 2001, University of Pennsylvania Law School

Biography

Lucius T. Outlaw III is an associate professor of law at Howard University School of Law. In addition to teaching criminal law and justice courses, Professor Outlaw is the supervising attorney of the law school’s Criminal Justice Clinic, where students represent indigent clients charged with misdemeanor offenses in D.C. Superior Court.

Directly prior to joining the law school, Professor Outlaw was an Assistant Federal Public Defender with the Federal Public Defender’s Office of Maryland for eight years. As an AFPD, Professor Outlaw represented indigent clients charged with a variety of federal criminal offenses, especially fraud, political corruption, violent, firearm, and drug offenses. In 2013, Professor Outlaw was detailed to the United States Senate for one year to serve as counsel in the Judiciary Committee office of Senator Richard Durbin (D-Illinois). For the last two years of his tenure at the federal defender’s office, Professor Outlaw served as Senior Litigation Counsel. In that role, Professor Outlaw assisted with the management of the office’s staff, caseload, recruitment and hiring, attorney training, and policy setting and implementation.

Professor Outlaw started his legal career as an associate with Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C. (2001-2004) and then with Mayer Brown LLP’s Washington, D.C. office (2004-2010). At Mayer Brown, Professor Outlaw was promoted to partner in 2009.

Professor Outlaw is a graduate of Wesleyan University (B.A.), the George Washington School of Political Management (M.A.), and the University of Pennsylvania Law School (J.D.).

 

Publications

The Line That I Did Not Know I Had: Why I Would Not Represent a January 6th Defendant As A Public Defender," Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law, Vol. 27, No. 2 (January 2022)

"Look Up and Smile for Daddy Warbuck’s Surveillance Plane: Reforming the Standard for Determining When a Private Search Constitutes Government Action, And Why It’s Needed to Meet the Growing Fourth Amendment Problem of Privatized Surveillance," Michigan State Law Review (2021 Mich. St. L. Rev. 861) 

"A Net for a Cooperator's Leap of Faith: The Due Process Need for Universal Acceptance of Bad Faith Review of Prosecutors' Substantial Assistance Determinations in Federal Sentencing," Marquette Law Review, Vol. 104, No. 3 (Spring 2021).

"An Honest Drug Offender Sentencing Letter," Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Spring 2020)

"Unsecured (Black) Bodies: How Baltimore Foreshadows the Dangers of Racially Targeted Dragnet Policing Let Loose by Utah v. Strieff" New Mexico Law Review, Vol. 50, No. 25 (2020)

“Time for A Divorce: Uncoupling Drug Offenses From Violent Offenses in Federal Sentencing Law, Policy, and Practice,” American Journal of Criminal Law , Volume 44, Fall 2016

“Giving An Acquittal Its Due: Why a Quartet of Sixth Amendment Cases Means the End of United States v. Watts and Acquitted Conduct Sentencing,” The University Of Denver Criminal Law Review, Volume 5, Summer 2015

 “Separate Links of Whole Chain: Emails and Privilege Logs,” Bloomberg Finance, June 2009

“The Reasonable Problem With FRE 502(b),” Mealey's Litigation Report: Discovery, May 2009

“Clarifying Loss Causation: Reconciling the ‘Zone of Risk’ Test With Dura Pharmaceuticals,” (co-author), Securities Regulation & Law Report, November 13, 2006