“It is my work to demand that my adversaries in court, the many who are honorable and the handful who are not, meet the requirements of the law.”

Jerry Buting was raised in Indianapolis, one of seven children to devout Catholic parents during the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Era.  Growing up in an environment concerned about social justice influenced his career choice to become a criminal defense lawyer to defend the rights and liberties of the individual.

Jerry attended Indiana University and graduated with a BA in forensic studies and a minor in history. He obtained his law degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. An internship at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. during law school gave him an appreciation for how good prosecutors approach their work with integrity and honesty — an experience that helped shape his career as a defense attorney.

Over the course of his career, Jerry has worked on many high-profile cases while also serving as a frequent lecturer on DNA, computer crimes, and other forensic evidence.  His reputation as a tenacious, talented defense attorney preceded his role as the co-defense attorney in the State of Wisconsin v. Steven A. Avery murder trial in 2007.  His performance throughout the trial and his efforts toward exposing both the shaky integrity of law enforcement and inherent flaws in the justice system came to national attention following Netflix’s popular documentary “Making a Murderer.”

However, in 2001, the greatest challenge wasn’t happening in the courtroom. It was in a local hospital and then home, where he spent a grueling year as he battled cancer.  The aggressive treatments nearly cost him his life, tested his faith, and prompted exhaustive reflection on his vocation and life purpose. His wife and law partner, Kathy Stilling, managed both home and office workloads, as Jerry slowly recovered, determined to continue the fight. As with many cancer survivors, Jerry was provided with a new lens on life. Re-energized in his vocation, his focus would be on making a difference in people’s lives, using the tools of mind, personality, and spirit given to him.

In 2017, Jerry published the best-selling book “Illusion of Justice: Inside Making a Murderer and America’s Broken System” (Harper 2017).

Jerry has spoken domestically in over 130 cities throughout the USA, and internationally in Canada, Chile, U.K., Ireland, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Bulgaria, Iceland, Australia and New Zealand.  He speaks on all aspects of criminal justice, the Netflix docuseries “Making a Murderer” and the Steven Avery/Brendan Dassey cases involved in the series, true crime, forensic evidence in the courtroom (and its flaws and limitations, contrary to Hollywood’s portrayal), ethics and other related topics.  As a cancer survivor, he also speaks about overcoming challenges in life and using those as inspiration to find purpose.

“Our goal has been to maintain a practice that allows us to give each client a full measure of representation and not take the shortcuts that are inevitable in the high-volume work of public defenders’ offices…I’ve found that successful balance, and as a result more clients follow because we take the time to provide the full representation each client deserves.”

Throughout his career as a criminal defense attorney, Jerry Buting has encountered many personal and professional trials, all of which bolstered his resolve to make a difference. He has been a tireless and powerful advocate for needed reform in the United States Criminal Justice System. He has frequently contributed his expertise to The Innocence Project as he supports their efforts to exonerate the wrongly convicted and prevent future injustices. He understands how the system fails the less fortunate; those without education, financial resources and support of family or community. His personal and professional mission is to give them a voice, a fair trial without prejudice, competent representation, and the constitutional right to presumption of innocence. He is waging a war against tainted jury pools, corrupt police interrogation practices, false confessions, incentivized informants, misapplication of forensic science, inadequate defense and the faulty appeals process, all of which contribute to the broken U.S. Justice System.