Kristin L. Pawlik is a native of Bentonville and began practicing law in Benton County upon her admission to the Bar in 1999. She worked for the Public Defender’s Office in the 19th Judicial District for over four years, most recently as Chief Deputy Public Defender. Kristin joined Keith, Miller, Butler, Schneider & Pawlik in October of 2003 and concentrates her practice in the areas of domestic relations, family law, criminal defense and employment law.  She became a partner in 2008.

Kristin received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Arkansas School of Law in May of 1999 and graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1996, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with an emphasis in Public Relations. In 2001, she attended the National Criminal Defense College Trial Practice Institute at Mercer Law School.

She belongs to the Arkansas Bar Association and the Benton County Bar Association where she served as President in 2007. She is also a member of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association and the Arkansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.  She was elected to the House of Delegates of the Arkansas Bar Association.  In 2009 Kristin was recognized by the Arkansas Access To Justice Commission as the Arkansas Pro Bono Attorney of the Year.

Areas of Practice

• Divorce / Family Law
• Criminal Defense
• Employment Law
• Ad Litem
  An ad litem, is generally appointed by the court, as an attorney for the minor child in contested custody/visitation proceedings. The standard which an ad litem must adhere to is what is in the “best interests of the child.” In determining the “best interests” the ad litem is required to look at the relative stability of the homes of the parties, academic performance, psychological welfare, medical condition of the child and the parties, and the general overall environments that the minor child will live in, in order to aid and assist the court in it’s determination of where a minor child should live. Often times, attorney ad litems, make recommendations to the attorneys involved in the case, in order to see if the parties may be able to reach an out of court settlement.