About Christina
Christina Carter started her courtroom work as a trial lawyer in Maricopa County. She joined the Maricopa County Public Defenders Office in 2016 and spent the early years of her career handling indigent defense matters. Those years put her in front of judges, juries and clients facing a range of criminal charges. The job was high stakes and often fast paced. It taught her the mechanics of trial preparation and the pressures of courtroom practice.
In 2019 she opened Carter Law PLLC and took on the role of owner and principal lawyer. Starting a firm shifted her daily work. She moved from being one of many in a public office to managing case intake, client counseling and litigation strategy for her own clients. The firm allowed her to continue trying cases while also shaping the practice to meet local needs.
Her professional memberships trace a steady engagement with civil liberties and criminal law groups. She has been a member of the ACLU since 2013. She joined the Maricopa County Bar Association in 2016. In 2018 she became a member of both the Arizona Lawyers for Criminal Justice and the National Lawyers Guild. Those affiliations reflect interests that extend beyond individual cases into broader questions about law and policy.
Carter’s courtroom work is rooted in trial experience. As a former public defender she handled arraignments, pretrial motions and jury trials. She represents clients at various stages of criminal proceedings and in hearings where immediate decisions matter. Her background gives her a practical sense of how cases move through the system and what choices most affect outcomes.
Running a small firm has broadened her day-to-day responsibilities. She oversees case management, client communications and litigation planning. She also engages with local bar groups and advocacy organizations that intersect with criminal justice issues. That mix of practice and professional involvement keeps her connected to the changing legal landscape in Arizona.
Clients and colleagues describe her work in straightforward terms: trial-ready, attentive to detail and persistent in court. She maintains the sorts of memberships that keep a practitioner current on criminal defense and civil liberties developments. Her experience in the public defender’s office followed by private practice gives her a view of the system from both sides.
Carter Law PLLC handles cases across Arizona, and she currently practices criminal defense and civil liberties litigation at her firm.