Recognized in Ones to Watch since 2027 Emi Lawson is a powerful storyteller and fierce advocate for her clients in high-stakes business disputes across the country. Clients turn to Ms. Lawson for her clear-eyed advice, disciplined preparation, and courtroom advocacy that keeps their business objectives front and center.
Ms. Lawson’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, including matters involving business divorces, trade secret misappropriation, mergers and acquisitions, executive compensation, and cybersecurity. She has served as trial counsel in significant cases across Texas, including defense-side jury trials where her teams have secured complete victories in fraud and trade secret cases and obtained substantial awards of attorneys’ fees for their clients.
Ms. Lawson brings a trial-ready strategy to every case, from the pleadings stage through appeal. She is known for distilling dense records and technical subject matter into simple, compelling stories that resonate with judges and juries, and for running lean, focused teams that are prepared to actually try the case—not just prepare for one.
Ms. Lawson’s work has earned recognition as one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Litigators in America in commercial litigation. She also invests deeply in the profession: Ms. Lawson serves on the board of directors of the Central Texas Federal Bench Bar Conference and is a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.
Before joining Cleveland Krist, Ms. Lawson practiced at Susman Godfrey where she worked on complex commercial and intellectual property disputes alongside some of the country’s leading trial lawyers. She previously clerked for the Honorable Alia Moses of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, giving her first-hand insight into how federal judges evaluate briefs, evidence, and advocacy in challenging cases.
Ms. Lawson graduated from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and Production Editor of the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, and where she also served as a judicial intern to the Honorable Daniel R. Dominguez of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. She holds an LL.M. from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Ms. Lawson earned her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, where she captained the women’s soccer team and was recognized as a National Scholar All-American and All-Pac-12 First Team selection—experience that continues to shape her approach to teamwork, preparation, and performance under pressure.
