Noah Geary sports boyish good looks and is an accomplished pianist and composer, but he can pop like a firecracker in the courtroom.

"He's a rising star, there's no question about that," said former U.S. Attorney J. Alan Johnson, who has known Mr. Geary since he was a toddler.

A lawyer for 10 years, Mr. Geary, 34, is becoming a legend in his field. He's secured reversals for two defendants in murder cases and, more recently, agreed to represent a woman accused of robbing a bank with an unloaded gun.

In 2004, Mr. Geary was successful in getting the 1977 double murder convictions of David Munchinski, of Fayette County, overturned.

Mr. Munchinski was sentenced to two life terms for the killings of James P. Alford, 24, and Raymond Gierke, 28, in a cabin in the Bear Rocks area of the Laurel Highlands.

When he threw out Mr. Munchinski's convictions, visiting judge Barry Feudale cited "patent and ongoing prosecutorial misconduct," and accused three former Fayette County prosecutors, two of whom went on to be judges, of "seeking and maintaining convictions to the detriment of the search for the truth."

The case remains unresolved, though, and the state Supreme Court has been petitioned to make a final determination. Mr. Geary since has sued Fayette County and several individuals on Mr. Munchinski's behalf for federal civil rights violations.

Mr. Geary said he couldn't resist taking the case.

"I would have to call three sitting judges and cross examine them and argue that they tampered with evidence and obstructed justice," he said. "I knew it was messy and old. I knew if I didn't take it, nobody would."

Mr. Geary worked for five years on the case with no expectation of being paid. He was later awarded $50 an hour for approximately 2,000 hours, and Fayette County was ordered to pay the tab.

Lightning seemed to strike again for Mr. Geary in March when the murder conviction of a Donora woman was reversed.

Tiffany Pritchett, 30, was convicted in the December 1993 shooting death of Troy Groomes, 25, of Donora.

In his appeal, Mr. Geary argued that Ms. Pritchett's trial attorney, Francis Sitchko, was ineffective because he allowed Ms. Pritchett to take a polygraph examination during her trial while he was not present. During the trial, the prosecution was barred from mentioning the polygraph, but Mr. Sitchko made 143 references to it in front of the jury.

Although she has been offered a plea bargain in exchange for time served, Ms. Pritchett "will plead guilty to nothing," Mr. Geary said. Washington County has appealed the case to Superior Court.

"The thing I know about Noah is he has a big heart and a lot of guts," said lawyer Ned Nakles, of Latrobe, who met Mr. Geary during the Munchinski appeal. "Everybody is rooting against you from the beginning. It takes a special kind of person to take on those kinds of challenges when you're 95 percent likely to lose."

Whether he's taking on an insurance company or the justice system, Mr. Geary, who has a general law practice in Washington, sees his clients as the unsophisticated, scared and weak of the world who don't have a voice.

"He's a bulldog," said Mr. Geary's father, Mark Geary. "He sees injustice and he wants to do his part to correct it."

Mr. Geary is a third-generation lawyer who shares office space with his father, a former assistant district attorney in Allegheny County and well-known local lawyer in private practice for 36 years. The name of his late grandfather, Martin Geary, remains engraved on the office door.

Mr. Geary grew up on a 30-acre farm in Somerset Township with three older sisters, his father and his mother, Judy Geary. He graduated from the University of Dayton and attended law school at Creighton University. A bachelor, Mr. Geary lives in Washington.

While in college, Mr. Geary picked up an interest in the piano, which soon crystallized into a love of music and composing. By 1999, Mr. Geary went from picking keys to composing music and performing in concerts. He also has an interest in art, and five paintings by local artist James Sulkowski deck the walls of his office.

Lately, though, Mr. Geary has focused less on art and his music, and more on performing in court.

Mr. Geary agreed last month to represent Marilyn Devine, 74, of Baldwin Borough, after she was accused of robbing a bank with an unloaded gun and leading police on a five-mile car chase.

Mr. Geary also represents Randy Reese, of Washington, who is expected to stand trial in June for the February 2005 beating and stabbing death of John L. Lewis, of Washington.

What makes Mr. Geary unusual among his peers is his devotion to each case, according to investigator Bob Meinert, of Gentile-Meinert Associates.

"He puts his entire life into a case. He takes it personal," said Mr. Meinert, a homicide detective turned private investigator who has known Mr. Geary and his father for years.

The best example of his son's work ethic, according to Mark Geary, would be the time a client called the office at 3 a.m. to leave a voice message for Mr. Geary, only to find him still in his office working on the case.

Mr. Geary said he strives to address abuses of power wherever he finds them.

"I don't like bullies," he said. "I didn't become a lawyer to make money. If someone's going to bully a client of mine, they're going to get it. I'm going to go after the bully."