Christopher Martz Arima

Christopher Martz Arima is an Assistant District Attorney with the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. A veteran and practicing attorney, Arima’s career bridges public service, legal advocacy, and education. Before joining the District Attorney’s Office, he managed his own law firm, Arima Law, focusing on criminal defense, civil litigation, and family law, and previously served as a public defender with the New Mexico Law Offices of the Public Defender.

Arima is deeply committed to advancing access to justice, education, and community engagement. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in mediation, constitutional law, and criminal justice at Excelsior University, where he also contributes to alumni leadership and engagement initiatives. His approach to both law and education reflects a belief in mentorship, inclusivity, and civic responsibility.

A member of the American Bar Association, the New Mexico State Bar, the Albuquerque Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the Justinian Society, and the Young Democrats of New Mexico, Arima has served as Chair of the ABA Young Lawyers Division Committee on Criminal Justice and as liaison to the Committee on Homelessness and Poverty.

During law school, he served as Managing Editor of the Journal of Global Rights and Organizations and as Executive Director of the Syrian Accountability Project under the Global Accountability Network. His scholarly publications include “The 2022 Winter Olympics and Genocide: A History of Enabling Atrocities and the Path Forward,” “On the Brink of Famine: The Ukraine Conflict and Food Crisis in Syria,” and “Russian War Crimes Against Ukraine: The Breach of International Humanitarian Law by the Russian Federation.” Arima earned his Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law (cum laude, with a Certificate in National Security and Counterterrorism Law), a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts from Excelsior University, and an Associate of Arts in Arabic from the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center.