About Celina

Celina M. Lopez Leon

Celina has 13 years of experience as a criminal defense lawyer. She has dozens of trials under her belt, ranging from misdemeanors up to first-degree felonies. She also has experience in civil defense litigation, having conducted nearly 500 depositions and countless mediations and discovery dispute hearings as well as jury trials.

Celina has written numerous appellate briefs, resulting in the opportunity to argue in the Thirteenth Court of Appeals a handful of times, and even argued as sole counsel in the Texas Supreme Court on a civil forfeiture issue of first impression (while 8 1/2 months pregnant in the middle of a murder trial!). She has litigated over a thousand cases in south Texas alone, and loves to fight for her clients.

Celina fell in love with criminal defense after taking a wrongful convictions class in law school. This inspired her to take a death penalty course, volunteer for the Innocence Project Clinic, and clerk for the ACLU Capital Punishment program in Durham, North Carolina.

Celina’s highest achievement is being a mom with a career and raising four beautiful children.

In her free time, Celina enjoys hanging out with her family, going on get-a-ways with her husband, cake decorating, and crafting.

Bars of Admission: State of Texas; Southern District of Texas; United States Supreme Court

Memberships:

Coastal Bend Women Lawyers - Board Member 2022-present

Corpus Christi Bar Association - Director - 2022-present

Corpus Christi Criminal Defense Bar Association - 2013-2014 Past President

Coastal Bend Criminal Defense Lawyers Association

Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association

Hispanic National Bar Association

HNBA Latina Executive Leadership Program*

Texas Bar Foundation Fellow*

Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas, Corpus Christi - Parliamentarian

Young Professionals of the Coastal Bend

Circle of Red

League of Women Voters

United Chamber of Commerce

Better Business Bureau

*Nominated and/or Selected for these positions as part of a prestigious selection process