Chelsey graduated from New York University School of Law, where she was a student attorney in both the Criminal Defense and Juvenile Defense Clinics. Before joining Appellate Advocates, Chelsey was a trial attorney at the Legal Aid Society in Manhattan for six years. During law school, she interned with the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta and the Defender Association in Seattle. Prior to becoming an attorney, she was an intern investigator at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and a staff investigator with the Bronx Defenders.