Jenna McConnell, a Wisconsin native, graduated from Marquette University Law School in 2013. Upon graduation, Jenna worked as a contract attorney for the Federal Defender’s Office in Wisconsin and in private practice handling civil, criminal, and immigration matters. Before joining Chavez & Valko, she also practiced immigration law in Houston, Texas.

While at Marquette, Jenna interned at a private immigration firm and at both the State and Federal Public Defenders’ Offices. She also worked as a research assistant to a Marquette professor, and as a law clerk to a state criminal court judge. Additionally, Jenna founded and coordinated Marquette’s Refugee Help Desk, participated in Marquette’s Volunteer Legal Clinic, served as a board member for the University’s Moot Court program, and was awarded special honors as a distinguished member of the Pro Bono Society.

Before attending law school, Jenna graduated magna cum laude from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, with a degree in Geography. As an undergraduate, she was a member of the Division I Women’s Tennis Team, served as a student-athlete advisor, and earned several student-athlete awards for academic performance. Jenna also studied abroad at Universidad de Las Americas in Puebla, Mexico, and at Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica in Heredia.

Jenna is fluent in Spanish and conversant in French.