Washington, DC (Aug. 7, 2023) – Christopher A. Wellborn was sworn in as President-Elect of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) at the Association’s annual meeting in Chicago on August 5.
Wellborn is a solo criminal defense practitioner defending people in South Carolina accused of crimes ranging from misdemeanors to felony charges in state and federal courts throughout the country. Wellborn is the recipient of NACDL’s 2019 Heeney Award, given annually to the criminal defense attorney who best exemplifies the goals and values of NACDL and the entire legal profession. He also received NACDL’s 2018 Champion of Justice Legal Award and the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ President’s Award in 1999.
Wellborn is a founding member, past president, and former board member of the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He is also a past president of the York County Bar Association and has served as Chair of the Criminal Law Section of the South Carolina Bar Association. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Directors for the South Carolina Innocence Project.
A Life Member of NACDL, Wellborn has been on the Board of Directors since 2010. He served as NACDL’s Treasurer from 2015 to 2016, as Parliamentarian from 2017 to 2018, and as First Vice President from 2022 to 2023. He has also served on NACDL’s Corrections, Governance, Membership, and Mental Health Committees. He has served as Chair of the Bylaws Committee, Co-Chair of the Native American Justice Committee, Co-Chair of the Sousveillance Task Force, and served on the Advisory Committee for the Police Accountability Project. He previously served as Chair of the Budget Committee and as a member on the Long-Range Planning and Public Defense Committees.
Wellborn received his J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1988 and his B.A. from Bates College in Maine in 1983.
Contacts
Jessie Diamond, Public Affairs and Communications Associate, (202) 465-7647 or jdiamond@nacdl.org
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.
