See Our Work
Maher Legal has represented clients across a wide range of matters involving military service, federal employment, national security, and complex federal litigation.
Military Justice and Presidential Pardons
The firm draws upon substantial experience as former military prosecutors and appellate defense counsel under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Maher Legal has represented soldiers and officers facing courts-martial, post-trial proceedings, and subsequent civilian habeas review in Article III courts. That experience includes representation of combat arms soldiers, including members of the 75th Ranger Regiment and other elite military units, whose cases often arise from complex operational circumstances encountered during combat deployments.
“Colonel Maher made me believe in the legal system again.”
Presidential Pardon: Clint Lorance
United States Army First Lieutenant Clint Lorance received a full and unconditional presidential pardon after serving years at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth. Maher Legal played a central role in the legal and advocacy efforts that led to that outcome, including extensive submissions to the Office of the Pardon Attorney and the White House.
Following the pardon, the firm litigated Lorance v. Commandant in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, resulting in a published decision establishing that accepting a presidential pardon is not a legal admission of guilt and does not waive habeas corpus rights. The case became part of the national conversation regarding the treatment of service members whose battlefield decisions later became the subject of criminal prosecution.
“If I had you at trial, I’m sure I wouldn’t have gone to prison.”
Presidential Pardon: Dustin Heard
Former United States Marine and Blackwater Security Specialist Dustin Heard, callsign Raven 23, received a presidential pardon after years of wrongful imprisonment. Maher Legal represented him through the legal proceedings and advocacy that led to that outcome, coordinating legal strategy, pardon submissions, and public advocacy efforts.
The Leavenworth Documentary
The broader issues surrounding military justice and the experiences of incarcerated service members have also been examined through documentary work. Maher Legal’s advocacy intersected with the documentary project Leavenworth, which examined the legal and institutional environment surrounding the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth and the lives of the service members incarcerated there.
USERRA and Military Employment Rights
A substantial portion of the firm’s work involves protecting the rights of service members and reservists whose civilian employment is threatened or disrupted by their military obligations. Through litigation under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, the firm represents members of the Active-Duty military, National Guard, and Reserve whose civilian careers in law enforcement, firefighting, emergency services, and federal employment intersect with their military service. These matters often arise when individuals who have served their country return home to discover that the legal protections promised to them by federal law are not being honored in practice. In those cases, Maher Legal litigates to ensure that those statutory protections are enforced in the courts where Congress intended them to be vindicated.
Mueller v. City of Joliet — 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (2019)
Maher Legal represented the plaintiff in this published USERRA decision before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The case involved a police officer whose employer failed to honor his reemployment and benefit rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. The decision is part of the body of federal law governing the obligations of public employers toward service members in their workforce.
A Personal Understanding of USERRA
John N. Maher has personally experienced the USERRA framework as a plaintiff, having faced employment discrimination related to his own military service. That experience shapes how the firm approaches every USERRA matter it handles, with a direct understanding of what these disputes mean to the individuals involved.
Federal Employment Defense
The firm represents federal employees navigating complex administrative proceedings, including disciplinary actions, proposed removals, security clearance matters, and appellate litigation arising within the federal civil service system. These matters require both technical familiarity with federal employment law and a practical understanding of how federal agencies operate internally.
Tony San Martin leads the firm’s federal employment practice, and his work in this area has produced four precedent-setting decisions before the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. The firm has represented federal employees across multiple agencies, including the National Security Agency, FEMA, the Department of the Army, and the Department of Labor, at grades ranging from GS-12 through Senior Executive Service level.
Constitutional and Appellate Advocacy
Maher Legal’s advocacy regularly extends into federal appellate courts and complex constitutional litigation. The firm has represented clients in cases involving statutory interpretation, administrative law, and the scope of military justice jurisdiction, litigating before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals, and federal district courts across the country.
The firm has also participated in constitutional advocacy through appellate briefing and amicus curiae submissions on issues of national significance, including absentee balloting rights for members of the armed forces serving overseas. In those matters, the firm advocated for legal interpretations designed to ensure that service members deployed abroad are able to participate fully in the democratic process they defend.
International Terrorism Civil Claims
In these cases, Maher Legal represents victims and families seeking justice in United States courts against foreign states alleged to have supported acts of violence against civilians, pursuing claims under federal statutes that allow such actions to proceed in American courts. These cases require careful navigation of sovereign immunity doctrine, complex jurisdictional requirements, and extensive factual development. Due to the sensitive nature of these matters, specific case details are not identified here.
More Maher Legal Clients
Robert Bales
Robert Bales pled guilty to murder charges for an event in Afghanistan that left 17 civilians dead. However, before the event Bales was required to take an anti-malaria drug with known psychotic side-effects and that evidence was never presented in court.
Jared Herrmann
Sergeant Herrmann, a paratrooper and parachute rigger, was convicted of reckless endangerment after two of his junior riggers falsely certified that certain parachutes were physically inspected and found airworthy. Neither Soldier was court-martialed, nor were any of SGT Herrmann’s superiors. The case went to the US Supreme Court and is now before an Arizona federal district court pursuant to a petition for writ of habeas corpus. The petition challenges the military courts’ definition of the term “likely” for purposes of the “likely to cause death or grievous bodily injury” element of the reckless endangerment offense.
Damon Claiborne
Claiborne served one year for sexual assault of a minor he met drinking in a bowling alley bar. Despite that, he was retained in 2006, promoted twice, and sent to combat twice. With an enlistment contract guaranteeing him 20 years retirement, he was discharged 5 months before vesting because the Army initiated a new policy that went back 10 years and chaptered him out for the same conduct.
Richard Camacho
Army Captain Richard Camacho was put in for the Distinguished Flying Cross but application of the Army’s SHARP program to his case reversed the constitutional presumption of innocence. MLS attorneys successfully briefed and secured reversal on appeal of a felony kidnapping conviction in November 2018. Attorneys for Camacho filed a Petition for Certiorari in the US Supreme Court claiming the Army’s SHARP program is unconstitutional.
Jonathan Gurfein
Marine Corps Major Gurfein served with distinction in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was convicted even though the prosecution was not able to put him at the scene of the crime and the time prescribed, he proved it was impossible to have been there by using his CAC card swipe from his office, and the prosecution withheld critical exonerating evidence.
Jeffery Page
On a deployment to Jordan, Page accidently shot his battle buddy and killed him while dry-firing. He pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter, but the prosecution went forward to prove unpremeditated murder. However, defense counsel did not call 12 witnesses who would have testified that Jeffery had no intent to kill.
Gregory Heckenbach
Gregory Heckenbach is a Bloomingdale, Illinois Firefighter and Paramedic. He is also a Staff Sergeant in the U. S. Army Reserve. He is challenging his public employer’s actions which appear to discriminate against Reservists in Federal Court in Chicago.
Anthony Santucci
In this petition for writ of habeas corpus, we describe how a military trial judge made multiple errors in the instructions given to the jury, and the military appellate courts looked the other way.
An example of our service with our Afghan brothers and sisters with whom we served: A short letter from one of the families who served with American Forces who are now safely in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave!
Major General Mohammad Tahir Mohmand served with distinction in the fight for freedom in Afghanistan.
Discuss Your Matter With Us
If you are facing a legal matter in any of the areas above, we welcome the opportunity to speak with you about your situation and your options.
You can also reach us by phone at (708) 468-8155.