Todd and Julie Chrisley Sue Former Lawyers, Say Mistakes Cost Them Freedom

Todd and Julie Chrisley claim the people who were supposed to keep them out of prison are the very reason they ended up behind bars ... and now they're suing them.

The reality TV stars filed a lawsuit against their former lawyer, Chris Anulewicz, and the law firm Balch & Bingham, claiming a massive mistake in their federal fraud case paved the way for their convictions.

In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, the Chrisleys say their attorneys missed a key opportunity to keep some of the government's most important evidence out of court.

According to the suit, the "Chrisley Knows Best" stars say they believe the entire case grew out of an illegal warehouse search years before they were indicted.

Their lawyers successfully got some of that material thrown out after convincing the judge the search was illegal ... but Todd and Julie claim the legal team never went after the emails, bank records and other evidence investigators found because of that search.

Todd and Julie say derivative evidence from the initial search became the heart of the government's case.

In other words, the Chrisleys are essentially arguing their lawyers locked the front door but forgot about the back door.

The lawsuit also takes a personal shot at Anulewicz, with Todd and Jlue claiming he lacked meaningful criminal defense experience when he took on the high-profile case.

The filing even alleges Anulewicz convinced the couple to invest $75K in his brother-in-law's food truck startup while representing them.

Todd and Julie claim the alleged screwups cost them far more than a courtroom loss.

They say they lost their hit TV show, endorsement deals, millions of dollars in income, and precious time with their family after being sent to federal prison.

The couple -- who received pardons from President Trump last year -- are now seeking more than $25M in damages.