Christy earned her undergraduate degree at Smith College, in American Studies and Government, concentrating in American Foreign Policy. She then went on to graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania in the field of political science and international relations/security studies, before attending law school at the College of Law at West Virginia University, where she was Associate Editor of the Law Review. Christy was a partner in her own firm for several years, where she practiced in a number of areas including criminal defense, child abuse and neglect representation, domestic law, and civil litigation. She was an attorney for a small municipality before switching hats to become a state prosecutor, has extensive trial experience, and has worked for years both in and out of the court system to improve the lives of at-risk children.