About Charles D. Dawkins
Charles D. Dawkins Jr. took a conventional path into law but carved his own course once he graduated. He earned his J.D. from American University Washington College of Law in 1995. The law degree set the stage for a career that moved between public service and private practice.
Early on Dawkins sought practical experience inside institutions that shape the law. In 1992 he worked as a legal intern at the Securities and Exchange Commission. The next year he served as a clerk for Fort Myers Construction Company. Those early roles gave him exposure to regulatory work and the business side of legal practice.
By the early 2000s Dawkins had begun to work directly in public defense. In 2003 he joined the Union County, New Jersey Public Defender’s Office as a pool lawyer. That same period also marks the start of his private practice; records show he was listed as a lawyer at the Law Office of Charles Dawkins Jr. in 2003. He later served as a pool lawyer for the Essex County Public Defender’s Office in 2005. Those positions put him in courtrooms on criminal matters and gave him steady trial experience.
In 2011 Dawkins was named a panel lawyer for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The appointment indicates he has handled appellate work in addition to trial litigation. Throughout the next decade he maintained professional ties to organizations connected to trial and immigration practice. He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association since 2011 and joined the National Trial Lawyers Association in 2016. He also holds membership in the New Jersey Bar Association, listed from 2017 to the present.
Dawkins has balanced public roles and private practice over the course of his career. He established his own office under the Law Office of Charles Dawkins Jr., LLC and has continued to represent clients in New Jersey. He combines courtroom experience from public defender panels and appellate assignments with work in his own firm.
Today he practices from his own firm and maintains memberships in both trial and immigration professional groups. His work includes criminal defense and immigration matters, handled through the Law Office of Charles Dawkins Jr., LLC.
