Colby Berry is one of our Criminal Defense Attorneys. He joined us in February 2020. He is extremely passionate, dedicated, and driven to work for our clients when they need it most. Colby has focused his entire legal career on defending the accused in criminal cases.
Colby grew up in Charlotte and graduated from N.C. State University, where he majored in English. Before law school, he was a Medicaid and Food Assistance case manager at Wake County Human Services. As a law student, Colby took several internships at the San Diego Public Defender’s Office, the San Diego Alternate Public Defender’s Office, the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, and Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. As a law student, he received an award from the State Bar of California for volunteer legal services to the poor. Colby graduated cum laude as a Center for Law and Social Justice graduate with an honors certificate for pro bono work.
Colby began his defender career as a post-bar clerk in the Law Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender where he was hired as a trial attorney in December 2006. The Los Angeles Public Defender’s Office opened in 1914 and is the largest in the world.
As a PD, Colby received extensive training from a wide variety of experienced and dedicated trial lawyers. He tried approximately 18 jury trials ranging from low-level misdemeanors to serious felonies and strikes. He also worked in juvenile court in Compton and Inglewood where he had the privilege to learn from some of the most passionate and knowledgeable juvenile defenders in the country.
Colby returned to N.C. and began working in Wake County near the end of 2011. He focused on appointed work, while also handling privately retained cases of all levels of seriousness. He then worked with local attorney Melody Davalos and her firm for about two years before joining Kurtz & Blum in February 2020.
In his free time, Colby enjoys Blue Grass music, being on his boat, traveling, and working on projects around the house.
