
Brandi Young
Partner
Brandi Young is a former state and federal prosecutor, experienced trial attorney, and partner at the Keith & Lorfing law firm. Brandi manages our Midland office and oversees all cases in the Permian basin. With over two decades of experience as a West Texas trial lawyer, Mrs. Young knows what it means to be West Texas Tough.
A former federal prosecutor, Mrs. Young focuses her practice on criminal defense, government and internal corporate investigations, and complex personal injury matters. Mrs. Young represents clients in high-stakes matters pursued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), State District Attorneys, and other prosecutorial and enforcement agencies. Her practice spans across various subject areas, including large-scale narcotics trafficking, complex white-collar crime, contract fraud, oilfield theft and related crimes, national security, cyber-crimes, public corruption, trade secrets, tax, immigration, child exploitation, and violent crime.
Prior to joining Keith & Lorfing, Mrs. Young served as a Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) in the Western District of Texas—one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Office in the country –where she supervised and prosecuted a wide variety of high-profile cases. For over 15 years, Mrs. Young investigated and prosecuted complex narcotics and firearms crimes, financial crimes, immigration offenses, crimes against children offenses, and a myriad of violent crime offenses. In addition, Mrs. Young handled parallel investigations involving the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), DOJ's Civil Rights Division, just to name a few. Mrs. Young developed a reputation as a zealous litigator with a keen ability to connect with judges and jurors while building an impressive record handling narcotics, violent crime, firearm, white collar, and corruption cases. Before that, Mrs. Young served as the Assistant County Attorney and Assistant District Attorney handling murder, drug, DWI, and sexual assault cases in Hockley and Cochran Counties for nearly six years.
As a federal and state prosecutor, Mrs. Young handled thousands of criminal matters, tried over a hundred jury trials and briefed and argued multiple cases before State of Texas Appellate Courts. Throughout her career, Mrs. Young has developed close relationships with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service, Texas Department of Public Safety, and numerous other law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Mrs. Young understands criminal law, the federal and state justice systems, governmental investigations, and the discovery process inside and out. Mrs. Young’s vast legal background allows her to provide our clients, who range from multi-billion dollar corporate clients to individual, hard-working West Texans, with the same direct, no-nonsense assessment as to how their investigation/prosecution may proceed.
Approach
If we could think of one word to describe Brandi Young, it would be loyalty. And so it seems poetic that her approach to the practice of law stems from a deep sense of loyalty. Loyalty to the firm. To her partners. And to her clients. She pours her heart and soul into every case that she takes on, often working into the early morning hours to chase down a potential legal issue.
What you see is what you get with Mrs. Young. Her bold (i.e. blunt) interactions and in-your-face assessments of a case are legendary in the Midland legal community. Instead of telling you what you want to hear, Brandi takes pride in telling you like it is. Even if it’s the news you don’t want to hear. Especially if it’s news you don’t want to hear. That kind of candor is exactly what makes her special. You can always count on Mrs. Young to shoot you straight and give you her best.

Education
Brandi is a proud Red Raider graduating from Texas Tech School of Law where she served as a Senator on the Student Senate. Like her father, uncle, and brother she obtained her undergraduate degree from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.
Juris Doctor – Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
- President’s Scholar
- Mock Trial
- Moot Court
- Student Senator
Bachelor of Science – Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas
- Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society
Bar Admissions and Licenses
- State of Texas
- Courts
- Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Western District of Texas
- Northern District of Texas
Victories
It ain’t bragging if its true
The United States Department of Justice charged our client with Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and was facing a potential life sentence. Based on our comprehensive knowledge of the Justice Manual, Keith & Lorfing was confident that the Government would not proceed to trial because the Government had not taken the appropriate steps to obtain a waiver from Main Justice in Washington, D.C. In keeping with the principle of Psalms 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God” we kept our nerve and rejected favorable plea offers. Eventually the prosecution dismissed the case at the last minute. Sometimes knowing the law is not enough, hire attorneys that know the policies undergirding the prosecution and can implement strategies to keep you safe.
The United States Department of Justice charged our client with Distribution of Child Pornography. Our client was facing 20 years in prison. Through our bespoke network of former federal law enforcement agents, Keith & Lorfing, thoroughly excavated the case for exculpatory material that would undermine the prosecutions case. After a thorough review with the prosecution team, the Government agreed to drop all the charges pending against our client.
The State of Texas (Taylor County) charged our client with Possession of Child Pornography. Our team of former prosecutors took to the offensive and uncovered rock solid evidence that our client was nowhere near the state of Texas at the time of the alleged activities. Using this information, Keith & Lorfing thoroughly researched the territorial jurisdictional limits for the State of Texas to charge crimes, and carefully selected the proper legal tools to bring the issue to the judge and get the case dismissed.
The State of Texas (Taylor County) charged our client with DUI and our client was facing jail time and a mandatory license suspension. After reviewing a search warrant that formed the backbone of the State’s case, we then carefully reviewed police officer body camera footage which established that law enforcement based their warrant on deliberately false facts to make our client appear to be the driver of a car that had recently crashed. The prosecution originally refused to dismiss the case, but after we carefully crafted a precision strike in the form of a Motion to Dismiss pursuant to violations of the Fourth Amendment, the State of Texas dismissed the case.
The United States Department of Justice charged our client with Possession with Intent to Distribute over 100 pounds of cocaine. Our client was facing a potential life sentence. Using a potential Fourth Amendment violation as negotiating leverage we bargained for a reduced charge reducing the maximum sentence to 20 years. Then United States Probation attempted to apply draconian guideline enhancements which placed our client’s likely sentence at 210 months in prison. Through Keith & Lorfing’s expertise in the United States Sentencing Guidelines we were able to defeat all of the draconian enhancements applied by the Probation Office and cut our client’s actual sentence in half.
The State of Texas (Jones County) charged our client with Terroristic Threats and kept our client in jail for over a month. Within days of receiving the case, Keith & Lorfing was able to get our client released from jail. Shortly afterward, our team obtained body camera footage from law enforcement officers that completely undermined the charges, and we worked with the prosecution to get the felony pending against our client dismissed.
The United States Government had our client charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl, in a situation where a death was caused by a controlled substance. We were able to work with the Government and convince them that our client was not responsible for the death that occurred. Our client was spared a potential life sentence.
The State of New Mexico (Bernalillo County) charged our client with a serious offense of distributing alcohol to a minor. Keith & Lorfing tapped into an extensive knowledge of the New Mexico Rules of Criminal Procedure to make discovery requests that the State of New Mexico could not comply with. Keith & Lorfing then brought several issues to the court including violations of the Sixth Amendment right to speedy trial as well as violations of local discovery rules. The Court was left with no choice but to dismiss the case against our client with prejudice.
The State of New Mexico (Curry County) charged our client with Criminal Sexual Penetration or common law rape. Our client was facing nine years in prison in the most heavy-handed county in the State of New Mexico. Our attorneys used a deep knowledge of the rules of evidence and the New Mexico rules of discovery to obtain multiple statements from the alleged victim which were completely incoherent. These prior statements were used to develop a script and combined that with our mastery of the New Mexico Rules of Criminal Procedure to obtain a Pre-Trial Interview with the alleged victim. After that interview, the State’s case fell apart and the State dismissed all charges against our client.
The United States Government had incarcerated our client for a prior conviction of Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine. Keith & Lorfing was retained by our client to reduce her sentence based upon recent changes to the United States Sentencing Guidelines. By getting to know our client, transcending the basics to a command of the federal statutes, and an unparallelled capacity to advocate for our clients, we successfully reduced our client’s reduced by nearly 20%.

West Texas Roots
Brandi has called West Texas home for the past 25 years. While in law school at Texas Tech School of Law, Brandi fell in love with the Wild West. It is also where she met her husband – a true born and raised West Texan from Levelland, Texas, –and decided to make West Texas her permanent home.
- Favorite travel destination in West Texas and why? Monahans Sandhills State Park. The Sandhills are a family favorite for us because where else can you go sand sledding, play sand football/volleyball, and see 70 foot-high sand dunes? No where, but West Texas!
- Best kept secret in West Texas. Balmorhea swimming pool in Balmorhea, Texas. It is the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pool that has year round water temperatures in the mid-70’s. And in this West Texas swimming pool, you also get to swim with the fishes!
- Best Restaurant in West Texas – This is a hard one for me. You can’t go wrong with the local, home cooking of O’Siller’s Café in Midland. Everything from the homemade salsa to the catfish will make it one of your top five places to eat in Texas.
- Biggest Surprise about West Texas – While many folks no longer wear cowboy hats and there aren’t horses tied up to hitching posts in the downtown squares, spend ten minutes in any West Texas town and you will almost certainly find a native Texan rancher or oilman. Sure, West
Texas has big box stores and the hottest coffeehouses, but we also have the best local coffee spots and shops with the kindest, friendliest people on the planet. - What does West Texas Tough mean to you? Being West Texas Tough is not a saying, it is way of life. From raising my family to representing my clients, I pride myself on being ready for the challenges life throws my way. West Texans endure the tough days, but never let the tough days define them. That is West Texas Tough and I’m proud to be a West Texan.
What are Clients are Saying


Personal Life
As the daughter and granddaughter of oil refinery workers, Brandi learned at an early age the meaning of hard work and perseverance. She saw first hand the toll graveyard shifts and long hours can have on a person. She witnessed the sacrifice and commitment it took to work in the oil industry. But seeing her father work long hours didn’t deter her – instead, it fueled her. It motivated her to instill in her children, the same life lessons she learned by watching her parents. Lessons like, hard work, sacrifice, extending grace to others, and treating everyone with respect. And though she went on to become one of the most well-regarded attorneys in the Department of Justice, Brandi has never forgotten where she comes from.
For the better part of 20 years, Brandi’s hobbies and passion were singularly focused on her work in the courtroom. And while that hasn’t changed since she entered private practice, Brandi’s identity is rooted
in her love of Christ. As a Christian woman, she cherishes her role as a mother to her amazing children and the life she has built in West Texas with her very patient and supportive husband.