In practice since 1981, Attorney Christopher Van Wagner (Chris) brings a wide mix of knowledge, background and unique personal experience to each case. These include the lessons learned and instincts developed while growing up one of 11 children born to a middle class Irish Catholic New Jersey couple; the top-notch education and training he received attending an Ivy League law school (Cornell Law '81, Law Review Editor) and then clerking for a federal district judge (Hon. Dick  Debevoise, D.N.J., '81-82); the boardroom manners observed and absorbed working for Fortune 500 clients in his years at a world-renowned Chicago-based corporate law firm (Mayer Brown, on LaSalle Street); and, most significantly, the ingrained courtroom sense and solid jury trial skills he honed while trying more than 50 felony jury trials to verdict as a state prosecutor (in Trenton, New Jersey), cases ranging from welfare fraud to rape to homicide.

In 1991 he moved to Wisconsin to become a federal prosecutor. In a short time, he tried several federal conspiracy cases to verdict. Chris left the government in 1994, and now devotes his professional time, effort and energy exclusively to defending people accused (or convicted) of serious crimes and drunk driving offenses.

The Dane County Defense Bar honored Chris as "Warrior of the Year" when Chris won an acquittal on behalf of a particularly difficult client (an ex-District Attorney) in an attempted murder shooting case. The Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (WACDL) has three times awarded Chris the Martin Hanson Advocate's Prize a statewide honor for his repeated victories in homicide cases. In a recent survey of all Dane County attorneys, Chris was among a handful named as "Madison's Best Criminal Defense Lawyers", an honor he has been repeatedly awarded. In 2006, Chris was named to Super Lawyers of Wisconsin for Criminal Defense and White Collar Defense. Chris has also taught and lectured regularly at state and national trial skills seminars for lawyers. He has served as guest commentator on Court TV with anchor Nancy Grace, who now also hosts the Larry King show. He has also been a guest criminal law commentator on the Dan Abrams Report on MSNBC and the Today Show. Finally, despite having resettled permanently to Wisconsin, he remains an equally permanent and often rabid New York Yankees fan.

Previous Bar Admissions

New Jersey, 1981
Illinois, 1989
U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois
U.S. District Court District of New Jersey
U.S. Court of Appeals 10th Circuit

Areas of Practice: Criminal & DUI Defense

Attorney Christopher T. Van Wagner will defend you regardless of the charges. Chris represents people who have been accused, arrested, charged or convicted by a federal or state agency for a criminal or drunk driving offense in the state of Wisconsin. He handles every type of criminal defense and post conviction case in both federal and state courts including those listed below.

• Sexual Assault, Pornography, Enticement, Cybersex Crimes
• Battery, Substantial Battery, Physical Abuse, Child Abuse, Spanking
• Disorderly Conduct, Domestic Disorderly Conduct
• Drug Offenses, Possess, Controlled Substance, Trafficking, Manufacturing, Selling
• Felony & Misdemeanor Drunk Driving Charges
• Criminal Appeals of Federal and State of Wisconsin Convictions
• Murder, Homicide, Vehicular Homicide, Negligent Homicide
• Property & Theft Crimes, Robbery, Arson, Burglary
• Computer Crimes, Criminal Harassment, Identity Theft
• White Collar Crimes, Fraud, Theft, Embezzlement

Bar Admissions

• Wisconsin, 1994
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Wisconsin
• U.S. District Court Western District of Wisconsin
• U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit

Education

• Cornell Law School, Ithaca, New York, 1981
  J. D.
  
  
• St. Lawrence, 1978
  B. A.
  Major: English and Literature

Select Seminars & Classes

• Teaching Faculty, Wisconsin Public Defender Trial Skills Academy (Lake Delavan, Wisconsin)
• Teaching Faculty, NITA Trial Skills Programs (Northwestern Law School, Chicago)
• Wisconsin Criminal Defense and Other Bar Seminars

Honors and Awards

• "Warrior of the Year" Dane County Criminal Defense Bar
• Martin Hanson Client Advocacy Award
• Super Lawyers, Wisconsin, Criminal Defense, White Collar Defense
• Madison's Best Criminal Defense Lawyers

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Dane County Bar Association
• Wisconsin State Bar Association
• National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
• Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers