Of Counsel
Christopher D. Anderson
Fifty-six jury trials, thirty of them for murder. Works with complex forensic evidence, from DNA to cellphone location data.
Chris Anderson is Of Counsel at Bedi & Singer. He brings strategic case assessment, unique motions and defense angles, forensic analysis, meticulous attention to detail, and trial-seasoned insights that help frame a compelling defense at all stages of a criminal case, drawing on more than three decades of experience in criminal defense.
Thirty years at the Cook County Public Defender
Before joining Bedi & Singer, Chris had a distinguished, 30-year career at the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender, where he retired in 2024. For more than 16 of those years, he was a member of the elite Homicide Task Force. He has tried 56 jury trials (30 for murder) and over 179 bench trials (13 for murder). His practice has covered the full spectrum of criminal defense, including death penalty litigation (15 cases), complex felonies, juvenile cases, post-conviction proceedings, and actual innocence claims. Chris has co-chaired murder trials with both Jonathan Bedi and Dena Singer. He was also a member of the Capital Litigation Trial Bar in Illinois as lead counsel from November 2005 until Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011.
Forensic evidence and teaching
Chris has substantial experience with expert witnesses and complex forensic evidence, including DNA, forensic pathology, firearms and ballistics, gunshot residue (SEM-PGSR), cellphone location data, computer voice recognition, and bloodstain pattern analysis. He is a frequent instructor at legal seminars and has taught on a wide range of topics, including confessions and trial advocacy, for organizations such as the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), the Cook County Public Defender, the University of Chicago Law School’s Intensive Trial Practice Workshop, IICLE, the Illinois Public Defender Association (IPDA), and the IIT Institute of Design/Chicago-Kent Law and ABA joint “Miranda Project.”
Law school and early practice
At Tulane Law School, Chris was a student attorney in the Criminal Law Clinic and clerked for the Federal Public Defender in New Orleans and the Miami-Dade Public Defender. At Notre Dame, he also studied for a year at Sophia University in Tokyo. He lives in Chicago.