Chafin received her J.D. from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1987. She was a judge on the Tazewell County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court from 2002 to 2005, and a judge on the Virginia 29th Judicial Circuit from 2005 to 2012. She joined the Virginia Court of Appeals in 2012, and served there until she moved to the Virginia Supreme Court in 2019.
