Yari D. Lawson is a native of Eatonton, Georgia . He is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta , GA. Yari received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Arkansas , School of Law. As a law student, Yari practiced in the school?s Federal Clinic where he started incorporating and advising non-profit organizations and in the school?s Innocence Project Clinic, where he worked to find cases where innocent inmates in Arkansas had faced wrongful convictions.

After law school, Yari practiced as an Assistant Public Defender in the Macon Judicial Circuit, and was devoted to quality representation for indigent clients facing a wide range of felony criminal charges. After leaving the public defender?s office, Yari turned his experience to prosecuting cases for the Fulton County District Attorney?s Office in Atlanta , Georgia .

Yari is a member of the Gate City Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia, and American Bar Association. In addition to his professional associations, Yari is a member of the Maroon Foundation, Inc. and mentor for inner-city youth at Parks Middle School in Atlanta, Georgia.