About Carl
Carl Lietz grew up studying systems and argument. He earned a B.S. from Florida State University in 1992 and completed his J.D. at Vermont Law School in 1995. Early in his legal education he gravitated toward litigation. After law school he took federal clerkships that put him inside the courtroom machinery he would later navigate as an advocate.
His first post-graduate role was a clerkship in 1996 for Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. He moved back to Georgia the following year to clerk for Judge Orinda D. Evans of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Those two years gave him direct experience with federal procedure, criminal docket management, and the drafting that supports judicial decision-making.
Lietz entered private practice in 1998 when he joined Chilivis, Cochran, Larkins & Bever. He shifted to public defense in 2001 as a trial lawyer with the Federal Defender Office in Atlanta. That role placed him in federal courtrooms on a regular basis and deepened his trial experience. In 2006 he formed Kish & Lietz, P.C., taking on the responsibilities of firm ownership and client management. In 2018 he joined Finch McCranie, LLP as a partner, bringing his mix of federal and private-practice experience to a broader civil and criminal litigation practice.
Outside the office he participates in organizations tied to criminal defense and the federal bar. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Federal Defender Program, Inc., and is a fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers. He also holds memberships in the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Federal Bar Association, and the Lawyers Club of Atlanta. Those memberships reflect a continuing connection to the professional community that shapes federal practice and criminal defense in Georgia.
Lietz's career tracks a consistent interest in courtroom work and federal litigation. He has worked in clerkships, public defense, private practice, and firm leadership. Colleagues describe him as methodical in preparation and direct in court. He practices from the Atlanta offices of Finch McCranie, LLP. His current practice concentrates on criminal defense and federal court work.
