Christopher Jon ‘Chris’ Parks, Austin Criminal Attorney

Christopher Jon "Chris" Parks is a criminal defense attorney in the Austin office of Dunham & Jones. Before joining the firm, he served as a prosecutor in both Harris County and Williamson County, where he learned firsthand how the State builds its cases. He now puts that experience to work for the defense, representing clients in misdemeanor and felony matters, from DWI and drug charges to assault, theft, and serious felony indictments, in every criminal court in Travis County. He has tried more than 50 jury trials, more than 40 of them as first chair, and has handled over 2,000 cases.

Mr. Parks grew up in Houston, where he graduated from St. Thomas High School. He earned a B.S. in Political Science from Texas A&M University in 2000, with a focus on international affairs and a certificate from the Bush School of Government and Public Service. He earned his Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 2004, finishing in the top 10 percent of his class, and was licensed in Texas in 2005.

In his last year of law school, Mr. Parks interned with the Travis County District Attorney's Office in the 167th District Court. From 2005 to 2008 he was an Assistant District Attorney in Harris County, handling misdemeanor and felony cases from intake and the grand jury through trial, and he left as a felony prosecutor. After years in private criminal defense practice, he returned to prosecution from 2020 to 2022 as an Assistant County Attorney and senior lead prosecutor in Williamson County, where he managed other prosecutors, ran county court dockets, advised officers on arrest decisions and probable cause, and reviewed cases for felony referral.

Mr. Parks takes a case apart piece by piece. He documents every piece that is there, finds the pieces missing through government laziness or incompetence, and shows the jury that the State is selling them a vehicle with nothing under the hood. He does this work because defense lawyers are what keeps the government accountable and stops it from labeling anyone it dislikes a criminal.

Christopher Jon 'Chris' Parks
Criminal Defense Attorney - Dunham & Jones
University of Texas School of Law | Texas A&M University
Former Prosecutor, Harris and Williamson Counties

Christopher Jon 'Chris' Parks, Attorney at Law