Christopher Chino ‘21L is originally from Norfolk, Virginia but has lived all over the United States. Following graduation from W&L Law, Chris began working for the Colorado State Public Defender’s Office and is currently representing indigent clients in low-to-high level felony matters. He manages a caseload ranging from 150-250 and has taken cases to jury trial roughly 14 times over the past year – securing not-guilty verdicts in a majority of those cases. When he is not working, he enjoys spending time in the mountains. Chris plans to continue to work in the field of public defense and recently accepted a job offer with the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender’s Camden office.
Did you know coming into law school that you wanted to work as a Public Defender?
Not necessarily. As a journalist, I wanted my work to have a positive effect on my community, and I came into law school with the same intent. I was able to explore various sectors of the legal field as a law student and found that public defense work meshed most with my interests and background.
What has this last year taught you in your current role?
I believe the most important thing I have learned is that the ability to converse with folks outside of the legal field in a natural way has so much value within the field. Clients and juries view the system in a much more emotional manner than most lawyers do – injecting that raw emotion into representation effectively and truly hearing people out can lead to...
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