About Laura Shaver

Laura Shaver has become a distinguished criminal defense lawyer and has earned a reputation of being a highly-skilled and fearless litigator among peers in the defense community and prosecutors. She has been practicing law since 2011, focusing exclusively on the representation of adults and juveniles accused of misdemeanors and felonies. Laura has handled countless felony and misdemeanor cases, obtaining impressive victories for her clients.

Laura has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from San Diego State University, a Certificate in Human Rights from the University of Oxford, and a Juris Doctor from Thomas Jefferson School of Law. She began her legal career in the San Diego Public Defender’s Office where she worked closely on several homicide cases before transferring to the Major Felony Unit; much of her caseload consisted of third-strike offenses. During this time, Laura also dedicated her free time to the California Innocence Project where she assisted staff attorneys in proving factual innocence for the wrongfully convicted.

Upon graduating law school, Laura returned home, to the Pacific Northwest, where she passed the Washington State Bar. She worked as a public defender at the Yakima County Department of Assigned Counsel, where she served as lead counsel on thousands of felony and misdemeanor cases. Laura then found her way into private practice expanding her experience by taking on tough appeals, clemency petitions, and complex felony cases such as, rape, murder, and co-defendant trials.

Laura is also involved in service to the professional community through teaching, publications, and volunteer service. She has served as a board member to Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers since 2016. This statewide organization of defense lawyers has more than 900 members and advances the expertise of criminal defense lawyers throughout Washington State. She also works closely with the Washington Innocence Project to advance legislation intended to prevent wrongful convictions.

Throughout her career, Laura has been recognized as an outstanding advocate. In 2011, she was awarded the Charles T. Bumer Civil Libertarian Award and more recently, in 2019, she was the recipient of WACDL’s 2019 Anthony Savage Award.