John Connors was born in the south, grew up on the east coast, went to college in the Midwest, law school on the west coast and is happy to now be working in Puerto Rico.

He has been a public defender for more than 25 years. he was the County Director for the Metropolitan Public Defender in Portland, Oregon since 1990 after previously serving as the Senior Felony Attorney in that office. He was also the first supervising attorney for the Capital Crimes Unit at the Metropolitan Public Defender and argued several appeals while working there.

He is the past president of the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and served as an adjunct professor at the Lewis and Clark Law School from 1995 to 2002. He is past chair of the judicial screening, equality and professionalism committees for the Multnomah Bar Association and past participant in several national projects for the Vera Institute of Justice.