Lawson is an experienced litigator who knows how to obtain favorable results on hostile terrain. 

Prior to joining MHGM, Lawson served as a trial attorney for the Wildlife and Marine Resources Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental and Natural Resources Division in Washington, D.C. While at the Department of Justice, Lawson represented the United States in federal civil litigation relating to wildlife and fisheries laws. Lawson has represented a wide range of Federal agencies, from the Navy to the Small Business Administration, and litigated protection issues over species from cave bugs to ice seals. He is well-versed in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and other environmental statutes, as well as in civil procedure and administrative law.

At the Department of Justice, Lawson successfully represented the U.S. Coast Guard in an ESA case regarding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response, ensuring that necessary clean-up activities could go forward while also ensuring protection of Gulf wildlife. In 2010, he solely handled one of the first ESA listing cases involving species affected by climate change, obtaining a favorable summary-judgment decision. In 2009, Lawson received a Special Achievement Award for the successful defense of an ESA challenge to a timber salvage project in Kentucky, including the denial of a preliminary injunction motion. 

Early in his career Lawson clerked for Justice Walter Carpeneti of the Alaska Supreme Court, clerked at the Nature Conservancy in Arlington, Virginia, and served as a research assistant for Professor John Leshy at Harvard Law School. Prior to law school, Lawson worked in project management at a Fortune 100 company where he gained insight in driving results across large organizations.

Lawson is fluent in Spanish and basic German.