More about Christine Kelly

I was raised in a U.S. Air Force family, and we moved a lot. I moved to Pensacola in 1985 and began attending W. J. Woodham High School, from which I graduated in 1988. 

I graduated with an A.A. from Pensacola Junior College. I later took multiple computer and programming courses at PJC and moved to Seattle to pursue a bachelor's degree in computer science at Seattle University.

While there, I changed my mind and decided to become a middle school math teacher. I changed my major to Liberal Studies. While I excelled in my math classes, God had other plans for me, and I couldn't get admitted to the Seattle University masters in teaching program.

My undergraduate advisor sent out an e-mail suggesting that law was an excellent field for liberal studies majors to consider. I decided to take the LSATs and see how I did. I did very well, and I was accepted into Seattle University School of Law with a generous scholarship. 

After law school, I attended the University of Washington School of Law for a year and earned an LL.M. (Master of Laws) in Taxation. My last winter in Seattle was very cold and uncharacteristically snowy. I knew it was time to return to Pensacola, and I did as soon as I graduated from UW and just 3 weeks after being sworn in as an attorney in Washington state. 

I have been a licensed attorney in Florida since May 2010. I worked at Legal Services of North Florida for over 10 years, practicing in a variety of civil law areas. I have been in private practice since April 2022. 

I was installed as president of the Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association in July 2023, and I will serve a one-year term. It is my hope during that time to make every member feel welcome, and to spread a message about the importance of caring for one's mental health. You can learn more about that here.

In my personal life, I noticed when I moved to my house in 2020 that there were a lot of feral cats everywhere. I also noticed that there were a lot of coyotes. I have taken in some of the feral cats, and I have gotten them and others spayed and neutered. I have noticed a difference in the number of coyotes near my house. It is my hope that more people will join the TNR movement as I believe it improves neighborhoods.