Lara (Marks) Baker
Member Spotlight
May/June 2025
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Lara Baker is a mom, wife, daughter, granddaughter, sister, and lifelong friend to a group of women she treasures. In her spare time, she is a trial lawyer.
Hometown: Greenwood Village
Law School: University of Virginia School of Law
Lives in: Greenwood Village
Works at: Recht Kornfeld PC
Practice Areas: General Criminal Defense, White Collar Criminal Defense, Juvenile Defense
Pronouns: She/Hers
Why did you become a lawyer?
My dad instilled in us the obligation to always fight for the underdog and give a voice to those who could not speak for themselves. Lawyers have great opportunity to affect the lives of people in a positive way, and I believe it is an incredibly honorable profession.
What do you like the most about your practice area?
The ability to help a client through the hardest moments of their life. A criminal allegation alone —even without a conviction—can change the course of a person’s life forever. Sometimes a charged person is innocent. Other times, a life of a million good decisions can be upended by an imperfect one. In either circumstance, a client’s defense often requires nuanced, creative, and sophisticated legal work to achieve the right result for the client. I find it very rewarding to be entrusted with that responsibility.
Please share a positive experience you’ve had as a lawyer.
It’s always thrilling to win an appeal, reach a settlement, or even receive a favorable ruling on a motion. But nothing compares to the feeling of standing next to an innocent client when a jury reads out an acquittal at trial. As the client’s knees buckle and they collapse into your arms, you know the incredibly hard work of this practice is worthwhile.
What motivates you to work hard?
The fear of losing a case for an innocent client. The
stakes are so high in criminal trial work. I have always said that if I am no longer willing to work the long hours it takes to ensure that a client is not wrongly convicted, then it is time for me to find another type of work.
If you weren’t a lawyer, you’d be:
A history professor.
How do you like to spend your free time?
With my family, doing just about anything.
What is your favorite travel memory?
Taking our boys to England and France last summer. I am a history buff, and to see them take on the same passion for studying culture and history of other places was a great joy.
What sport do you love to play or watch or both?
Any sport my kids are playing, usually football, soccer, and track. I am also a fanatic for the Olympics. I watch every event I can, even if I know absolutely nothing about it.
Who is your hero and why?
My grandparents, Sam and Helen Fireman. They survived the Holocaust as prisoners of Auschwitz and Dachau. They came to the US penniless, having just witnessed some of history’s worst atrocities against humanity, losing nearly all the people they loved. And yet, despite their traumas, they were able to build a successful, loving, healthy, and hardworking family. My grandparents always said that the one thing no one can take from you is your education, and that their greatest revenge against the Nazis was our own happiness and success.
What advice would you give a new lawyer?
Find a champion. Not just a boss or an ally or a mentor, but someone who will selflessly promote your legal career, even if it takes the spotlight off of them. The great Gary Lozow was my champion, and his influence on my career is immeasurable.
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