Profile

Natalie Winters joined the UNM law faculty in 2025, after 5 years at Berkeley Law teaching and running an advocacy program and 3 years at the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender as a trial and appellate attorney. Her research interests connect her professional experiences in policymaking and criminal defense. Her current work critiques the widening gap between the norms underpinning evidence law and the modern realities of criminal litigation. Future research interests include applying mathematical models to strategic decision-making during pretrial litigation and examining the potential for a protected right to plea bargaining for criminal defendants litigating violations of their rights under the United States Constitution.

Winters was awarded the American College of Trial Lawyers Medal for Excellence in Advocacy in 2018, the Best Advocate Award at the Baylor Advanced School of the Trial in 2017, and the Loewy Passion for Civil Rights Scholarship in 2016.