Christophir A. “Chris” Kerr is an experienced criminal defense attorney who also brings to his practice 26 years of criminal investigative experience as an FBI agent in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, PA and Tampa, Florida.  Chris also served as a supervisor in the Criminal Division at FBI Headquarters.  Since retirement from the FBI in 2005, Chris has primarily handled federal criminal defense cases, but he also has served as deputy and then general counsel to the Pinellas County (Florida) Republican Executive Committee (PCREC).  Chris has also been very involved in Florida voter integrity initiatives.

Chris has successfully handled a wide variety of criminal defense cases as a sole practitioner.  He is an active member of the bars of Florida, the Federal Middle District of Florida, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and United States Supreme Court.  Chris has also represented clients before the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). 

Chris obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from California State University Northridge before working as an Intelligence analyst and then a special agent with the FBI.  He obtained his law degree from Stetson University Law School in Gulfport, Florida after retiring from the Bureau.  Chris’ practice has greatly benefited from his years as an FBI agent investigating organized crime and white collar fraud cases.

Chris has also published several articles and a book over the past several years, including:

May 2010    William & Mary Policy Review, Vol. 1:51, What the Real Jack Bauers Really Need—A New Subpoena.  Deconstructs national security letters (NSLs), describes the history of federal grand jury and administrative subpoenas and advocates changes to NSLs to make them more useful to counterterror and counterintelligence investigators while protecting the rights of Americans whose records are sought.

Dec. 2012    Rico—How Politicians, Prosecutors and the Mob Destroyed One of the FBI’s Finest Special Agents.  Co-authored with former FBI Assistant Director Joseph Wolfinger and reporter Jerry Seper.  The true story of the former FBI Special Agent Paul Rico, who died shackled to a Tulsa, Oklahoma jail bed, falsely charged with Boston mobsters with Conspiracy to Murder the CEO of Telex Corp. in May 1981.

Aug. 2017   The Champion, Vol. XLI No. 7, Effective Defense Polygraphs, (provides extensive legal research and practical information to assist criminal defense attorneys in using and introducing defense polygraphs).

Chris volunteers his time as counsel to a small non-profit public interest Florida voter integrity group and also is actively involved at the First Lutheran Church of Clearwater, Florida, serving as an Elder.