David Christopher Dearborn

Biography

Chris Dearborn serves as a clinical professor of law at Suffolk University Law School, He has directed the Suffolk Defenders Clinic since 2006-7. In this Clinic, Professor Dearborn closely supervises eight students every year as they represent indigent defendants primarily in multiple divisions of Boston Municipal Court. Professor Dearborn received tenure in 2011 and was promoted to full professor in 2012.

Professor Dearborn also serves as the Co-Director for the Trial and Appellate Advocacy Concentration at Suffolk Law School, and has taught several other classes, including Intensive Trial Advocacy, Evidence, State Criminal Practice and Procedure, and the first-ever class on Massachusetts State Constitutional Law. He also regularly guest lectures for other classes, including the Immigration Clinic, Constitutional Criminal Procedure, Digital Evidence, and Professional Responsibility. Professor Dearborn also has been a guest lecturer at Boston College Law School, Boston University Law School, Northeastern University Law, and he served as Trial Advisor to the Trial Advocacy Workshop at Harvard Law School.

Professor Dearborn is also Of Counsel to the criminal defense firm of Rankin & Sultan.

Prior to joining Suffolk University, Professor Dearborn was a public defender for 10 years with the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) and a Senior Associate with the law firm Rankin & Sultan. He also taught as an adjunct Professor at New England School of Law and Western New England College of Law and was a teaching fellow at Brandeis University in its Legal studies Department.

Aside from his academic and professional experience, Professor Dearborn has also served as an instructor and presenter at dozens of conferences, professional trainings, and CLE programs. Over the last 25 years, he has served as a faculty member of MCLE, providing statewide training to attorneys on various issues, including sexual assault cases and discovery practice. He has also been an instructor at Essex County Bar Advocate Program and the Suffolk Lawyers for Justice, Middlesex County Bar Advocates, the Norfolk County Bar Advocates, and CPCS. Professor Dearborn has lectured at Training programs for multiple DA’s offices on prosecutorial ethics, cross examination, and direct examination. During COVID, he created a series of webinars that he continues to run several times a year entitled “Office Hours with Professor Dearborn.” He has also presented at the annual AALS Clinical Conference on multiple occasions.

Professor Dearborn serves on multiple Boards and Committees. Specifically, he is a member of the Supreme Judicial Court’s (SJC) Standing Advisory Committee on the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure, sits on the Board for the Suffolk Lawyers for Justice, and is on the MBA’s Criminal Justice Council.

During the course of his career, he has served as an expert commentator for TV, Radio, on-line, and print media, commenting on high profile cases and hot-button criminal justice issues, including, but not limited to, providing extensive commentary on the Aaron Hernandez, Whitey Bulger, Marathon Bomber, Brian Walshe, and Karen Read cases.

Professor Dearborn has authored numerous Opinion Editorials and Letters to the Editor in a variety of periodicals, including USA Today, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, Massachusetts’ Lawyers Weekly, and the Huffington Post. His scholarship includes law review articles on the intersection between the Miranda Doctrine and the Massachusetts Constitution and multiple shorter pieces relating to evidence principles and trial techniques.

Education

• BA, St. Lawrence University, Magna Cum Laude
• JD, Vermont Law School, Cum Laude
• Master of Studies in Environmental Law, Vermont Law School, Cum Laude

Publications

Selected Articles

• "You Have the Right to an Attorney', but Not Right Now: Combating Miranda's Failure by Advancing the Point of Attachment Under Article XII of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights", 44 SUFFOLK L. REV. 359 (2011)
• What Every Criminal Lawyer Needs to Know about Impeachment Law, 12:1 MASS. BAR ASS'N. SECTION REVIEW 6 (2010)
• Contributing Author, Collective Wisdom: Dealing with Devastating Proof (NITA) 2022
• Contributing Editor, Mass Criminal Practice, Volumes 1 and 2 (2008-2012)
• Criminal Law 101: Practical Strategies for District Court Practice, Advanced Legal Studies, 2010

Selected Opinion Editorials and Letters to the Editor

• "Patriots First, Invent Explanations Later: A Step Backward on Profiling." Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, 2022 (co-authored with student, Bob Cunnia)
• "Law Professor Has Witnessed Countless Cases of Bias in the Court System," The Boston Globe, 2020
• "Honoring the Constitution in the Wake of the Bombing," The Patriot Ledger, 2013
• "Top 10 Unanswered Questions About the Whitey Bulger Trial," Huffington Post Contributor, 2013
• "Not all Defaults are Created Equal," Mass Lawyers' Weekly, 2022
• "Shameful to malign work on prisoner's case," The Boston Globe, 2013
• "Prof. Closing Argument Tactic suggested in Column is Impermissible & Unethical," Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

Selected Media

Commonwealth v. Karen Read

• "Karen Read murder trial: A look at the forensic evidence," The Boston Herald, 2024
• "Karen Read trial surprise: ATF Agent Brian Higgins' medical records put into evidence," The Boston Herald, 2024
• "Karen Read jury list interrupted indefinitely as juror says, 'I am frightened,'" NBC Boston, 2024 (TV Interview)
• "Judge says keep trying after jurors in Karen Read trial say they are on verdict," NBC Boston, 2024
• "Amid controversy, murder trial of Karen Read opens Tuesday," WGBH, 2024
• "Finding impartial jury for Karen Read murder trial will be 'long road' law expert says," CBS News, 2024
• "Karen Read's high-profile Massachusetts murder trial underway with jury selection," CBS News, 2024
• "Jury at Karen Read trial ended deliberations for the week without reaching a verdict," The Boston Globe, 2024
• "Two weeks into Karen Read trial, questions of investigation, memory, and connections," The Boston Globe, 2024

United States v. Tsarnaev (The Marathon Bombing case)

• "Some Legal Experts Question Charges Against Marathon Bombing Suspect's Pals," CBS News, 2014
• "Feds: Limit Tsarnaev's access to victims' autopsy photos," WCVB 5, 2014
• "Boston could be sympathetic to bombing suspect," Seacoastonline, 2014
• "Marathon bombing suspect to ask for trial move," AP News, 2014
• "Has Boston bombing trial changed perceptions of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev?" The Christian Science Monitor, 2015
• "Closing arguments set in Boston Marathon bombing trial," The Florida Times-Union, 2015

United States v. James J. "Whitey" Bulger

• "Issues in the Whitey Bulger Case," Legal Talk Network, 2011 (audio interview)
• "Whitey Bulger girlfriend faces sentencing in Boston," Seacoastonline, 2012
• "Top 10 Unanswered Questions About the Whitey Bulger Trial," The Huffington Post, 2013
• "A cast of characters': Prosecution rests its case in Whitey Bulger trial," NBC News, 2013
• "Bulger trial hinges on credibility of gangsters," USA Today, 2013
• "Reaction to the 'Whitey' Bulger trial verdict," The Patriot Ledger, 2013
• "Bulger lawyers focus on battling informant label," AP News, 2013
• "Bulger witness: Feds helped him get away with murders," USA Today, 2013

Commonwealth v. Aaron Hernandez

• "Aaron Hernandez, star legal team face long road ahead," USA Today, 2013
• "Prosecution building strong case, experts say," The Sun Chronicle, 2013
• "Surveillance images may shape Hernandez case," The Boston Globe, 2013
• "Key witness in Aaron Hernandez case might seek witness protection," USA Today, 2013
• "Lawyers allowed to block evidence," Associated Press, 2014
• "Turning verdicts a Specialty for Aaron Hernandez Defense Team," Boston.com, 2015
• "The Long, Sprawling Legal Road Still Ahead for Aaron Hernandez," Boston.com, 2015
• "Hernandez murder trial set to begin," Amarillo Globe-News, 2015

Miscellaneous

• "Muted, blurred, or missing footage: Lawyers say police bodycam policies have 'no real teeth' in court," The Boston Globe, 2023
• "Campbell says new unit will crack down on crisis pregnancy centers, providing guidance in era of abortion misinformation," The Boston Globe, 2023
• "Man accused of killing his stepdaughter in Acton had been awaiting trial on rape charges for close to three years," The Boston Globe, 2024
• "Patriots cornerback Jack Jones to face arraignment after arrest on gun charges at Logan Airport," The Boston Globe, 2023
• "Man accused of raping teenage girl in Rockland shelter is released on bail," The Boston Globe, 2024
• "North end restaurant owner Patrick Mendoza was back in court for his shooting case. Here's what to know," Boston.com, 2023
• "Jurors on high-profile cases face stress, anxiety, scrutiny: From Trump to Karen Read's murder trial," WGBH, 2024
• "Healey announces sweeping pardons for simple possession of cannabis," WBUR, 2024
• "Underdog Boston School Charms Out Judges, Big Law Partners," Bloomberg Law, 2023
• "Trial Advocacy Curricular Leaders," PreLaw Magazine, 2017 (Highlighting professor Dearborn's teaching techniques)
• "Bar none?," Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, 2016

Bar Memberships

• Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
• Vermont Supreme Court
• United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
• United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
• United States District Court for the District of Vermont

Honors & Awards

• Class of 2024 established the “Professor Chris Dearborn Award,” presented to a student who has developed and practiced extraordinary advocacy skills during their time at Suffolk University Law School

Select Committees & Service

• SJC Standing Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure, member 2024 - Present
• Willful Flight Project, working group member, 2023 - Present
• Transition Team, District Attorney-Elect Rachel Rollins, 2018
• Suffolk Lawyers for Justice, Board Member 2008 - Present
• Massachusetts Bar Association Criminal Justice Council, Board Member 2008 - Present