Jennifer E. Wellman is a veteran trial lawyer with a state and federal practice focused on government investigations, as well as criminal and civil rights litigation. For over 27 years, Jennifer has provided exceptional advocacy for persons charged with a wide variety of misdemeanor and felony offenses, both in private practice early on in her career in Oregon and Washington, and for 24 years at the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Western District of Washington where she was the Supervising Attorney for eight years before joining Skellenger Bender. Since joining Skellenger Bender’s Government Investigations and Criminal Practice Group, Jennifer has also focused on developing a civil rights practice with an emphasis on cases involving police misconduct, discrimination, and prisoners’ rights.
Jennifer is well known for her tenacity, compassion, and effectiveness, as well as for having successfully handled numerous federal trials and appeals, including the successful challenge to indefinite detention of persons ordered deported in Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 (2001), which directly benefitted thousands of individuals throughout the country. She is admitted to the bars in Washington (active), California (inactive) and Oregon (inactive).