Forensic laboratory management teams have to deal with a variety of complex legal issues in their mission to provide forensic laboratory services for the criminal justice system. Often, lab management teams are without the input of a lawyer on a day-to-day, in-house basis, having to “share” their legal advisor with a broader law enforcement agency or with a number of “clients” when the attorney is assigned multiple agencies or has additional prosecutorial duties. Labs need an entrenched lawyer to advise on these issues and to serve as a liaison (even a translator) between the scientists and the courts.While skeptics would argue that a forensic laboratory would only need a lawyer to hide potential scandals and limit laboratory liability, a lawyer can help build and increase neutrality and transparency, establish productive working relationships with all of the participants in the criminal justice system, and help the scientists appreciate the potential legal implications of their management decisions. A lawyer whose sole client is the laboratory, and who is bound as much by the scientist’s code of ethics as the lawyer’s rules of professional conduct, can be a valuable participant in the forensic laboratory’s management team.Laboratories seeking to justify an in-house lawyer should identify the various legal issues that can arise in the operations of the laboratory and develop a list of duties for the position based on those identified needs. In-house lawyers should come with or develop knowledge of all of the forensic disciplines housed within the laboratory and the law governing their admissibility in the courtroom. All forensic lab lawyers should strive to keep abreast of national developments in forensic science that may affect their scientists’ work and provide guidance as needed in how those developments may affect their testimony. The compensation range for the position should be set at a level that encourages the recruitment of a seasoned practiti...