The Sloth Bear has been a p. d. for just a little while, but has developed some distinct likes and dislikes in clients:
Categorizing Infuriants
If you ever find yourself speaking with a public defender, try not to be any of these people...
..but it's a pretty good hint. From Law.com:
Are Public Interest Lawyers Getting Crowded Out by Deferred Associates? - One recent law grad looking for public interest work notes, 'We don't come with a $70,000-plus salary with benefits intact. Psychologically, it's hard to deal with that reality.'
Sending incoming associates into temporary public-interest jobs - with a healthy stipend to cover their costs of living - is intended to be a fiscally smart and compassionate way for law firms to handle an overabundance of young attorneys...
But some recent law school graduates who have spent years preparing for public-interest careers worry that law firms are hurting their job prospects by flooding the already competitive public-interest job market...
Humongous headline over at Not For The Monosyllabic:
I'm a real life public defender!!!!!
I GOT THE JOB!!
We accept you, one of us, one of us!
Interesting character study from the Wichita Eagle:
Single mother perseveres to earn law degree - grit and effort anchor her life
Latina Alston is not yet 30. She has three children... She raised the children in poverty all their lives. That's about to change. Latina's story goes beyond absent fathers, food stamps and welfare checks.
People at the Wichita Bar Association know that of their 1,175 members, only eight are African-American - the newest member being Latina. Earlier this month, as Sedgwick County's newest assistant public defender, she helped clear a Wichita man of charges that could have put him in prison for years...
The 180+ comments following the article are interesting, too, in a "what's the matter with Kansas?" sort of way.
Via Legal Blog Watch, with tut-tutting by Carolyn Elefant at no extra charge.
From the Dalton Daily Citizen:
Public defenders passionate about work
Public defender Betsey Flack said she doesn’t mind the workload and what some in the legal profession may consider the position’s low pay. To Flack, protecting people’s legal rights is critical.
“Ensuring that they are treated fairly is what I see as my job,” the North Carolina native said. “When it comes to people’s liberties, I don’t think there is anything more important or more serious...”
Meanwhile, from the same newspaper:
Public defender office concerned about budget cuts
From Law.com:
Loan-Forgiveness Program Becomes Law - Legal aid attorneys, state and local prosecutors and public defenders benefit
President Bush on Friday signed into law legislation expanding a student loan forgiveness program for students who become legal aid lawyers, state or local prosecutors and public defenders...
Many of us have felt like this, from Eat, Drink & Be Married:
Right now, I'm dealing with an extremely difficult client... But the issue isn't just this one client. It's much more about what this client represents. There's a culture of abuse that most public defenders come to accept. Maybe we're all masochists. Anyway, we get used to having judges, prosecutors, witnesses, and our clients treat us poorly. I don't mean to generalize so broadly, but we make martyrs of ourselves on a fairly regular basis in the name of protecting our clients...
(P)eople who go to law school to change the world are misguided.
Prone to masochism and martyrdom? Check. Went to law school to change the world? Check. Misguided? Check. But hey, I'm still here in the job. Hang in here, colleague. And read some blogs by other p.d.'s, they'll help fight this feeling.
Once, my kind were as numerous as the mighty bison and the migratory hippie, and we roamed the courtrooms of this land armed with our "liberalism" and our concern for the "underprivileged." Now the younglings are explaining to me this new path that we trod. From the law student at I Immediately Regret This Decision:
As of 8:30 AM on Monday I will be officially employed. I'm working for a local public defender but I don't know whether to be excited or bummed... What's funny about all this is that I hope to be a prosecutor once I graduate...
... to the guest blogger at Public Defender Dude:
First, to be a PD you have to kind of fall into it. The vast majority of PDs that I know in this day and age in California were not necessarily raised as "liberals" who like helping the "underprivileged," code in my book for minorities. That is something that happened in the sixties and the seventies. Some of those PDs are still around, even in my office. But not many.
No, where I am from the majority of PDs fell into criminal defense because they wanted a job and the PD hired. We have a number of people who wanted to work for the DA but couldn't get hired. We have a number who were civil and got tired of it and came to the PD. As I said, most just sort of fall into it...
... to keep my middle-aged p.d. head from shaking, I'm thinking of all the cool young lawyers who, rather than fall into indigent defense work, strive for it heartily and dive into it enthusiastically. I know they exist - I've worked with many, and hired a few myself. Others I know from reading their blogs.
"Skelly,"
P.D.
(something that happened in 1988)
Interesting perspective from a still - relatively - junior colleague, from Newsweek:
Equal Before The Law - As A Public Defender, I Must Often Challenge Prejudices, Including My Own, For My Clients
When I first started my job, I thought like a social worker. I justified representing those who were guilty because I believe I could help them... After two years, my conscience no longer requires such justification...
Actually, in 20 years of practice, internally I've travelled in the opposite direction of this p.d. Your (and everyone's) mileage may vary, of course.
Via the ABA Journal, Representing ‘Those People,’ Young PD Seeks Justice.
"(A)fter a week of working at the federal public defender's office," Duoly Noted reports on
The Emotional Toll of Being a Public Defender
Here with a reply is Jeremy Irons:
"You have no idea..."
Petition for Review ended up having a good day at work:
Public Defender Intern - 1, Private Counsel with a coke problem - 0
Today was insane. I had to push people out of the way to get in and out of the courtroom. While I'm talking with other clients License Boy and his parents somehow start talking to a private attorney. Private attorney (we'll call him Moron) is apparently hungry for clients...
Read on for the surprise ending. The old dog in me says, don't get cocky, kid, but the p.d. in me says, congratulations, new colleague, go get 'em.
Congratulations to Emily, who has a new public defender job:
i start on monday. i have no idea what i'm going to wear.
Any wardrobe suggestions for new p.d.'s? You know, clothes to go with pink hair, dreadlocks or tattoos.
From Nelly's Crazy Talk:
I could tell he had a bad day at work... I guess one of his clients said to him, "I bet you are super excited to pass the bar so you don't have to be a public defender!" Poor Dave... no respect!
The Department of Public Advocacy, Kentucky's statewide public defender agency, is making imaginative use of the Web.
You can find DPA lawyers discussing their jobs on YouTube.
You can check out DPA podcasts.
You can even find DPA when you do a Facebook search for "Department of Public Advocacy." Pretty slick.
From the Terrell Tribune:
Just a year old, Kaufman County PD's office serves as a model for others around state
A year ago when Andrew Jordan was appointed as Kaufman County's first public defender, he had no staff, no desk and a daunting charge from commissioners... “I really thought when I agreed to accept the position that somewhere there was ‘The Idiot's Guide to Creating a Public Defender's Office,' ” Jordan said. “That book doesn't exist so, to that extent, it was overwhelming trying to start from scratch...”
Via I Was The State.
Janet King then - Miss Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Universe
Janet King now - brand new public defender
(From the Saipan Tribune, via Commonwealth Sound Off)
More from the Record Courier:
Plough fines public defender $100 on contempt charge
Assistant Portage County Public Defender Brian Jones was ordered to pay $100 and court costs Friday at his sentencing hearing on a charge of contempt of court leveled last week by Portage County Municipal Court Judge John Plough. Plough immediately delayed the sentence pending an appeal.
Jones, who was surrounded by family, friends and fellow attorneys at Friday's sentencing, was cited for contempt after he told Plough in court Aug. 16 that he was unprepared to move forward on a misdemeanor assault case scheduled two months prior but only given to the Portage County Public Defender's Office the day before.
Jones also was ordered to pay $48.50 in restitution to two witnesses who had to skip work that day to attend the trial.
Cleveland attorney Ian Friedman, brought on to defend Jones in the sentencing hearing, had earlier argued Jones did not intend to obstruct the justice of Plough's court, nor had he ever misbehaved prior to this incident. "The charge is in direct contention with the (law's) requirement of willful disobedience" that can lead to a charge of contempt, Friedman argued. "Brian Jones had no business trying to move forward on that trial."
Plough said he might have been convinced to continue the trial after the prosecution presented its case to allow Jones more time to prepare a defense.
"The court does make exceptions in the interest of justice," Plough said, later adding "this court has to be concerned with everybody's discipline in the criminal justice system ... We all must accept some blame for what happened here."
Plough told Jones he was not upset with the young lawyer who passed the bar earlier this year and has only been a public defender for four months. Plough said he had seen Jones in action in two jury trials that resulted in not guilty verdicts for Jones' clients. "You have a very bright future. You showed more poise than many attorneys I've known who've been practicing law for many years," Plough said...
More from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Contempt upheld for Ohio public defender
Every new public defender should have this much insight; from Scoplaw:
Loss of Liberty
I hear ‘loss of liberty’ used in the courthouse. I’ve used it myself. But I often wonder if someone sitting in the jury box really knows what that means, what the “loss of liberty” truly costs a person... I often wonder if they know what the accused may have endured, just to get to this point. To take a step back, here’s a quick overview of the “cost” of a criminal accusation (just the accusation, not a conviction)...
From the News-Press:
Attorney turnover taking its toll - State attorney, public defender fight to retain staff
Look into any Lee County Justice Center criminal courthouse and you’re sure to find as many younger, eager attorneys as older, experienced counsel.
Many of those young attorneys are prosecutors and public defenders. But lingering law school loans, the lure of private-sector salaries and desire to try a new trade are problems State Attorney Steve Russell and Public Defender Robert Jacobs deal with yearly. Turnover is a constant challenge for each office, and both elected leaders have tried increasing salaries, guaranteeing lots of courtroom experience and promoting in-office teamwork as a way to attract new talent.
According to Judicial Administration Commission numbers from 2005-2006, the most recent available, Russell’s office had a 25 percent turnover rate, fourth highest among Florida State Attorney Offices for that period. The turnover rate for Jacobs’ office was 26.5 percent, ninth highest among the 20 public defenders. “The people out of law school have these huge loans,” Jacobs said. “They want to make a commitment, but they can’t. They want to make as much as they can and you can’t blame them...”
Good news from Gideon:
Loan forgiveness bill passes Senate!
A bit too late for me, alas, but now Dave and others like him might be able to join our ranks:
This is great news for all of those interested in becoming public defenders, who are forced to spend tens of thousands on law school in order to make very little money thereafter...
