Kristen M. Frost
Email: frost@ridleylaw.com | Download V-card
Partner
Practice Areas: Federal and State Criminal Defense
Background and Experience:
Kristen Frost is a zealous advocate with a multi-jurisdictional practice that focuses on federal and state criminal defense, and cases involving international legal issues. Ms. Frost handles trial, appellate and regulatory matters and passionately fights for the accused at all times, notwithstanding the nature of the accusations, the location of the prosecution team, or the difficulty of a case.
Ms. Frost practices in Colorado, Illinois and Virginia, has defended clients in international extradition cases and has successfully represented American citizens and foreign nationals detained abroad facing unique extenuating and life altering challenges. She has tried cases in numerous counties throughout the state of Colorado and in Illinois. Prior to moving to Colorado, Ms. Frost practiced criminal defense law in Chicago, handling matters throughout Cook County and the surrounding metropolitan area.
Ms. Frost’s practice ranges from white collar defense to cases involving accusations of street crime. She has defended matters involving various types of fraud, tax offenses, civil rights violations, homicide, sexual assault, child abuse, narcotics offenses, theft, domestic violence cases, and many other types of allegations, (see list of Representative Matters). Regardless of the charges at issue, Ms. Frost is known for her consistent success in obtaining victories for her clients, oftentimes through securing dismissal of cases before trial or proceeding to trial and acquitting her clients. Additionally, she has extensively litigated and won issues involving prosecutorial misconduct on more than one occasion, obtaining sanctions and securing dismissal of cases for this type of abuse of power.
Ms. Frost has advocated on appeal before the United States court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the Colorado court of Appeals, the Illinois Appellate court, and the District Courts in Colorado. Ms. Frost has brought cases before the Illinois Prisoner Review Board seeking executive clemency for her clients, and has defended matters before the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. She has filed petitions in the Supreme Court of the United States and the Illinois Supreme Court. Ms. Frost has also done extensive post-conviction work, seeking a new trial based on allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel and issues surrounding new evidence uncovered years after conviction.
Ms. Frost is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, the National University of Ireland, Galway and DePaul University College of Law. She spent a semester studying at the Sutherland School of Law at the University of College Dublin, Ireland, and worked for Professor Cherif Bassiouni as a Sullivan Fellow for the International Institute of Human Rights Law.
Ms. Frost completed a fellowship after law school at the International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences, in Siracusa, Italy. While pursuing her post-graduate fellowship in Italy, she worked on matters related to post-conflict justice and accountability projects funded by the U.S. State Department to rehabilitate and rebuild the judiciary in post-Taliban Afghanistan and the Iraqi Legal system, was involved in reports completed for the United Nations and other non-governmental organizations on various topics involving international criminal law and human rights issues, and participated in other local Italian legal initiatives sponsored by the region of Sicily and the Italian government. Ms. Frost has extensively studied and speaks French and Italian.
