She was accepted by six of the top 10 law schools in the country. Prior to this, she was the valedictorian of her high school in Mississippi and still holds the record for highest GPA of any class. While at Berkeley School of Law, Hartwell was elected president of the Berkeley Women’s Law Association and received two academic awards for having the top grades in two law school classes.
After law
school, she was recruited by many of the top 20 law firms in the country and received seven job offers. For the first half of her career, she practiced federal securities litigation in Los Angeles. Her firm, Bingham McCutchen, honored her with its annual pro bono award. Unlike other attorneys, Hartwell is a member of three state bars: California, Mississippi, and Texas. She passed her first bar exam in 2005 in California, which is the most difficult in the country. She has been granted admission to practice in 5 federal court jurisdictions in three different states. While practicing in Los Angeles, Hartwell served on the Legal Aid Foundation Associates Board as well as the Los Angeles Women’s Bar Association Board. In 2012, Hartwell returned to her small town roots in Mississippi, where she joined a firm with only 2 other attorneys. This was where she represented her first client charged with a crime and learned what it was like to be real lawyer, what it was like to make a real difference in people’s lives, and what it was like to defend the Constitutional rights owed to every single American no matter what. Consider the fact that a single person charged with a crime faces the power of the police, prosecutors, probation officers, elected officials and the massive funds of a state government—none of which are in the business of protecting the Constitutional rights of citizens.
Hartwell eventually decided to dedicate her entire practice to criminal defense work and wanted start a practice somewhere that it would be most impactful. That’s where Texas came in. It’s no secret that Texas is tough, if not the toughest, state on defendants. That makes it even more important that the accused gets a smart, devoted, and dedicated attorney. Hartwell eventually decided to focus her practice solely on what motivated her most, criminal defense law. She wanted to start her own firm in a place where she could be most impactful. This “tough on crime” culture is reaffirmed again and again by the Texas Legislature. That’s where Austin came in. Austin is the center of criminal justice policy-making in the middle of the State toughest on crime. It was a perfect fit.
