Understanding Trends

2023: Experience of Air Force Trial Counsel of Record

Every one of the 225 Air Force courts-martial tried in 2023 lists at least one trial counsel of record, and the median most experienced trial counsel had 7 prior cases. 282 different trial counsel appeared that year.

Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 5 min read

Trends › Counsel Experience › Air Force 2023

Short answer: Every one of the 225 Air Force courts-martial tried in 2023 lists at least one trial counsel of record, and the median most experienced trial counsel had 7 prior cases. 282 different trial counsel appeared that year. 56% of decided contested cases ended in a full acquittal (67 of 120), higher than the 45% in 2022.

Based on 225 cases · 2023 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

A Higher Full-Acquittal Rate Than in 2022

Contested cases are those where the accused pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. In 2023, 67 of 120 decided contested cases ended in a full acquittal, a rate of 56%. The 2022 rate was 45%.

Charges also changed. Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 14% of 2023 cases, compared with 4% in 2022. These records place both changes in the same year and cannot show whether they are related.

Results Sorted by the Top Trial Counsel's Prior Cases

120 contested cases reached a verdict and list a trial counsel of record. The table sorts them by the prior-case count of the most experienced trial counsel on the government team.

Full acquittals were 59% in the 1 to 4 band (34 cases) and 64% in the 5 to 9 band (22 cases). The 10 to 19 band had 55% across 22 cases. The 20 or more band, the largest at 35 cases, had the lowest rate, 43%.

Partial acquittals, where the accused was acquitted of some charges or specifications and convicted of others, ran from 9% in the 1 to 4 band to 27% in the 10 to 19 band. The 7 cases with no experienced trial counsel are a very small group: 6 of 7 ended in a full acquittal and 1 of 7 in a partial acquittal.

Evidence, plea offers, and the division of work at trial are not in the records. The rows report outcomes only, not what experience did to them.

Prior cases (most experienced trial counsel)	Contested cases	Full acquittal	Partial acquittal
No prior cases	7	6 of 7	1 of 7
1 to 4	34	59%	9%
5 to 9	22	64%	23%
10 to 19	22	55%	27%
20 or more	35	43%	20%

Defining Experience

Experience means the number of earlier courts-martial in this data on which a lawyer was counsel of record, on either side, in the Air Force, before that trial date. It is a count, not a grade of skill, and it misses any cases a lawyer tried before the records start.

Teams usually have more than one lawyer, and the records do not name a lead. So each case takes the count of its most experienced trial counsel of record. The page does not rate or rank lawyers.

Spread of Experience Across Cases

The 225 cases split fairly evenly across the middle and upper bands. 65 cases (29%) had a top trial counsel with 1 to 4 prior cases, 53 (24%) had one with 5 to 9, 42 (19%) had one with 10 to 19, and 53 (24%) had one with 20 or more.

12 cases (5%) had no trial counsel of record with any earlier case in this data. The median for the year was 7.

Prior cases (most experienced trial counsel)	Cases	Share
No prior cases	12	5%
1 to 4	65	29%
5 to 9	53	24%
10 to 19	42	19%
20 or more	53	24%

Trial Counsel Who Appeared in 2023

282 different trial counsel of record appear in 2023 Air Force cases. 102 of them (36%) were new to this data, with no earlier case.

Most had a small number of cases during the year. 161 appeared in 1 case and 106 in 2 to 4 cases. 13 appeared in 5 to 9 cases, and 2 appeared in 10 or more.

Cases as trial counsel in 2023	Lawyers
1 case	161
2 to 4 cases	106
5 to 9 cases	13
10 or more cases	2

Larger Teams Were Common

All 225 cases in 2023 list at least one trial counsel of record. Of those, 94 listed 2 trial counsel of record, and another 94 listed 3 or more. Only 37 listed a single trial counsel.

The band for each case still comes from the single most experienced member of the team. A case with 3 newer lawyers and 1 lawyer with 20 or more prior cases is counted in the 20 or more band. The records do not show how the team divided the work.

Which Side Had More Prior Cases

223 cases name lawyers for both the government and the defense. In 125 of them (56%), the most experienced defense counsel of record had more prior cases than the most experienced trial counsel. The trial counsel had more in 90 cases (40%). The rest were even.

What the Data Covers

Counsel names in Air Force records are nearly complete from 2016. Starting these pages two years later gives most lawyers a record of earlier cases. Different spellings of a name are merged by the Learn Your Lawyer method. Navy and Marine Corps records name counsel only from mid-2025, mostly by surname, so those services are not covered.

Trial records show the charges, pleas, findings, and sentence. They leave out the evidence, the plea terms, and conduct handled outside a court-martial. Air Force records rarely list the charges in a full acquittal and never report plea agreements.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.

How We Counted

Every Air Force court-martial with a trial date in 2023 (225 cases). Counsel of record are as listed in the public records.

Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.

Related Analysis

About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.