Mr. J. Christopher Keen, Attorney

J. Christopher Keen, founding attorney for Keen Law Offices, LLC, received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Brigham Young University. He attended the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, where he was awarded a Juris Doctor degree. Mr. Keen has been admitted to practice before all Utah state courts including the Utah Supreme Court, before the Federal District Court for the District of Utah, the Ninth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals, and before the United States Supreme Court. He is also admitted to practice before the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the Board of Immigration Appeals. He has represented and defended hundreds of immigrants before the immigration courts and the state courts.

Mr. Keen's practice focuses on handling complex immigration issues, criminal defense of foreign nationals, post-conviction work, defending foreign nationals in immigration court, and appeals. He has argued cases in front of courts throughout the state of Utah, and in the Federal District Court for the District of Utah, and has had cases heard before appellate courts including Utah Court of Appeals, the Ninth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals, and an appeal to the United States Supreme Court. He has argued in Immigration Courts throughout the Western United States, including in Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and California.

Mr. Keen has prepared and provided training to other attorneys in the area of immigration law, including presenting to the Utah State Bar, Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Utah Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Mr. Keen has a variety of prior legal experiences. He has clerked in the Labor Division of the Missouri Attorney General's Office in Jefferson City, Missouri, and at the Criminal Appeals Division of the Utah Attorney General's Office in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has also clerked for two law firms in Salt Lake City, Utah and in Denver, Colorado, gaining experience in litigation, criminal defense, and immigration law.

He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Central Utah Bar Association.

In October 2009, the Utah Supreme Court appointed Mr. Keen to be a mentor to new attorneys in the Utah State Bar's inaugral group of mentors.

Mr. Keen grew up in Norwalk, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, and attended John Glenn High School. He worked his way through college performing several jobs including bank teller, waiter, store clerk, and software salesman. He has a passion for history, especially family history, and has authored a book on the Keen family. He speaks fluent Spanish, which he learned in school and improved during a two-year volunteer mission among Spanish-speaking migrants in Idaho.

Mr. Keen enjoys sailing, reading, history and spending time with his wife and children.