Maricris (Cris) focuses her practice on representing corporate and individual clients in complex commercial trial and appellate litigation in both state and federal courts. She has defended educational institutions in complex civil rights litigation.
Prior to joining McGuireWoods, Cris served as a law clerk to the Honorable Chief Justice S. Bernard Goodwyn of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Before immigrating to the United States, Cris served as a senior legislative officer in the Senate of the Philippines. She also holds trial experience as an associate in a Philippine law firm, where she assisted in defending a Philippine oil company from threatened closure.
Cris earned two Juris Doctor degrees—she earned her U.S. Juris Doctor degree from Regent University School of Law and she earned her Philippine Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Philippines-Diliman. Prior to attending law school in the United States, Cris also received training in international environmental law from American University Washington College of Law. In law school, she served as the Executive Editor of the Regent University Law Review and was awarded Best Note in the 2019 Honorable Leroy R. Hassell, Sr. Writing Competition. While completing her U.S. law degree, Cris was a judicial intern to the Honorable Judge Robert J. Krask of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Cris is a proud military spouse to an active duty U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer.