Attorney Chris Zachar

Attorney Chris Zachar is among Wisconsin's most accomplished criminal defense lawyers.  Chris specializes in defending people charged in serious and complex criminal prosecutions including homicide, sexual assault, and felony drug offenses.  He is a five-time recipient of the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyer's (WACDL) Martin Hanson Advocate's Prize for clients acquitted of homicide at jury trial and one of a single-digit group of attorneys in Wisconsin to secure a jury acquittal for a client charged with homicide by drug delivery.  Chris is an experienced trial attorney who regularly tries cases before judges and juries, stemming the full spectrum of criminal offenses from simple misdemeanors to Class A felonies and has secured many acquittals for clients facing serious charges.  He serves on the Board of Directors for WACDL, an organization of more than 500 criminal defense attorneys, and has presented at numerous professional conferences with a focus on litigating scientific and medical evidence, trial advocacy, and pardon applications.  Chris has successfully litigated hundreds of pretrial and suppression motions in trial courts across the state, regularly litigates appeals in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, and has argued before the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  He is admitted to practice in federal court and represents clients charged federally as a member of the Western District of Wisconsin CJA panel.  

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Chris graduated in the top ten percent of his class at the University of Wisconsin Law School and spent the first ten years of his career as a trial attorney in the Black River Falls and La Crosse trial offices of the Wisconsin State Public Defender.  In 2017 he founded Zachar Law Office, dedicated to protecting people who have been charged with crimes in Western Wisconsin.  In 2023 Chris received the Dan Berkos Award from the Wisconsin State Public Defender, an honor given to just one criminal defense attorney statewide in recognition of their contributions to criminal defense over the course of a career. Chris and his cases have been featured on Court TV, the Washington Post, USA Today, A&E Network, Law & Crime, National Public Radio, the Wisconsin State Journal, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and throughout the La Crosse area media market.   When he isn't in court Chris loves to hike the Hixon forest, SCUBA dive in Lake Wazee, and cheer on the Wisconsin Badgers!