100 Chesterfield Business Parkway, Ste. 200
Chesterfield, MO 63005
Phone: 314-956-7099
E-mail: d.childress@childresslegal.com
Web:
County: St. Louis
Region: St. Louis

Bio:

Denise L. Childress is Founder and President at Childress Legal, LLC. She concentrates her practice on defending person’s accused of DWI and other crimes, and is licensed to practice in the State of Missouri.

Ms. Childress formerly partnered with Carl Ward at Ward & Childress for two years. Prior to making Partner, Ms. Childress served as trial attorney and Director of Operations at Ward & Associates for three years. In this capacity, she has tried countless DWI cases and saved many clients' licenses, and, for her CDL holding clients, many clients' jobs.

Denise was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended Nerinx Hall High School. She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Justice Systems from Truman State University where she also minored in Spanish. Denise received her Juris Doctor from St. Louis University School of Law where she concentrated in criminal litigation. During her studies, Denise composed a comprehensive report on capital clemency proceedings in Missouri for the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project, which contributed to a published report by the ABA, entitled “Evaluating Fairness and Accuracy in State Death Penalty Systems: The Missouri Death Penalty Assessment Report, An Analysis of Missouri’s Death Penalty Laws, Procedures, and Practices.”

Denise served as a Legal Intern at the Adair County, St. Louis City, and St. Louis County Public Defender’s Offices, before working as a Rule 13 Intern at the St. Charles County Public Defender’s Office. She also worked as a Rule 13 Student Attorney for the Criminal Defense Advocacy Clinic at SLU Law. Denise then spent time clerking in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri for the Honorable Audrey G. Fleissig during her final semester of law school. During her studies, Denise was a member of the National Criminal Justice Honor Society, the American Criminal Justice Association, the Public Interest Law Group, and the International Law Student’s Association.

Ms. Childress received many awards in law school, including the American Law Institute-American Bar Association Scholarship and Leadership Award (presented to the student in each of the nation’s top law schools’ graduating classes who best represents a combination of scholarship and leadership), the Bar Plan Foundation 2011 Scholarship (awarded to those who exemplify high standards of ethics and professionalism), the Academic Excellence Award in Anti-Terrorism and Criminal Enforcement (presented to the student with the highest grade obtained in the class) and the Student Bar Association Delegate Outstanding and Dedicated Services Certificate.

After graduation, Denise served as a Staff Attorney for Arch City Defenders and later joined the Public Defender’s office in Farmington as an Assistant Public Defender. In all of these varying capacities over the past four years, Denise has represented and/or assisted countless citizens accused or convicted of crimes in multiple jurisdictions throughout Missouri. She joined Ward & Associates in 2013. Since joining the firm, Denise completed the NHTSA DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Program, the same training program used to train police officers in the State. Denise is currently a member of the Missouri Bar and the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Denise enjoys spending time with her friends and family outdoors. Denise played goalie for Truman State’s seventh-ranked varsity soccer team all four years. A few of her interests include playing rec league sports, reading fiction novels, and spending a day boating on a lake or a river.