Attorneys

Principal

Jonathan K. Gitlen

Jonathan K. Gitlen has represented individuals and business for the past twelve years. Mr. Gitlen has represented clients in cases that have affected the way law is practiced nationwide. Mr. Gitlen has significant experience in civil and criminal cases. As an associate at Levi & Korsinsky, LLP, Mr. Gitlen represented plaintiffs in significant class action litigation against some of the largest companies in the world, such as Honeywell, Tesla, and Navient. Mr. Gitlen has represented individuals in personal injury, civil rights, qui tam, trust and estate, and criminal matters in the District of Columbia and in California, in both federal and state court. Mr. Gitlen has handled appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits. Mr. Gitlen’s oral argument in a federal medical malpractice case be heard here.

Prior to starting his own firm, Mr. Gitlen has held positions of leadership and authority that focused on the rights of incarcerated people. As the Director of the National Inventory of Collateral Consequences of Criminal Conviction, Mr. Gitlen’s work has affected criminal practice throughout the United States. Mr. Gitlen also represented 50 federal prisoners seeking sentence commutation—executive clemency—as part of President Obama’s New Clemency Initiative. He successfully helped release 12 people from prison through the program—one of the highest and most successful of participating attorneys.

As part of Mr. Gitlen’s pro bono efforts, Mr. Gitlen has volunteered his time as an American Bar Association advisor and liaison to the D.C. Government. He is the Chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section’s State Policy Implementation Project. He has worked with the D.C. Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizen’s Affairs to train and employ returning citizens as paralegals and place them in prestigious positions with major law firms in the city. Mr. Gitlen is proud of his pro bono commitment, and continues to participate in various pro bono initiatives like the Compassionate Release Clearinghouse and others.

Mr. Gitlen has been interviewed by the National Public Radio, Washington Post, DCist, and the ABA Journal.

Since 2018, Mr. Gitlen holds the position of Professorial Lecturer at the George Washington University Law School, where he teaches Trial Advocacy.

Education

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
LAW SCHOOL
Juris Doctor, 2010

EMORY UNIVERSITY
B.A., Philosophy, Mathematics, 2006

Positions; Publications; Published Opinions

• George Washington University Law School, Professorial Lecturer
• Federal Criminal Procedure Litigation Manual (Juris 2022)
• Jonathan Gitlen & Eric Martin, Possibilities for Evaluation and Reform: Suggested Uses of the National Inventory of Collateral Consequences of Conviction Database, 2 CRIM. LAW PRAC., Summer 2015
• Alex Tway & Jonathan Gitlen, An End to the Mystery, A New Beginning for the Debate: National Inventory of Collateral Consequences of Conviction (NICCC) Provides Complete List of Every Collateral Consequence in the Country, 2 CRIM. LAW PRAC., Summer 2015
• 718 Associates v. Banks, 21 A.3d 977 (2011) rev’d en banc sub nom. Hernandez v. Banks, 65 A.3d 59 (2013)

Bar Admissions

• District of Columbia, 2012
• California, 2010
• U.S. Supreme Court, 2015
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2017
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2017
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 2019