Steven J. Lieberman

Steven J. Lieberman has more than thirty years of criminal law experience, practicing throughout Texas and across the country, with a practice concentrated on what happens after the verdict.

Post-conviction work is its own discipline. It is won on the record that already exists, under standards of review that forgive almost everything, within deadlines that forgive nothing. Steven handles sentencing, motions for new trial, direct appeals, post-conviction writs of habeas corpus, and parole matters — and he is one of a comparatively small number of Texas lawyers board certified in criminal appellate law.

He is admitted in every federal district court in Texas, in four United States Courts of Appeals, and in the Supreme Court of the United States. His work has produced published opinions in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas courts of appeals, and the Fifth Circuit.

Published opinions

• De La Torre v. State, 583 S.W.3d 613 (Tex. Crim. App. 2019)
• Gomez v. State, 498 S.W.3d 691 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2016)
• Paulea v. State, 278 S.W.3d 861 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2009)
• Ex parte Rodriguez, 195 S.W.3d 700 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006)
• State v. Neesley, 196 S.W.3d 356 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2006)
• Carty v. State, 178 S.W.3d 297 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2005)
• Garza v. State, 126 S.W.3d 79 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004)
• Beal v. State, 91 S.W.3d 794 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002)
• Thompson v. State, 44 S.W.3d 171 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2001)
• Richardson v. State, 39 S.W.3d 634 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2000)
• United States v. Lombardi, 138 F.3d 559 (5th Cir. 1998)
• St. Julian v. State, 874 S.W.2d 669 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994)

Each matter depends on its own facts and law. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any other matter.

Writing and teaching

• Harmless Error Rule Revisited: What the Trial Lawyer Needs to Know to Create Reversible Error (December 2002)
• Initiating the Attorney-Client Relationship, University of Houston Advanced Criminal Law Course (2008)

Credentials