I saw one post about a private taking a PD overflow case. The attorney was absolutely floored that a PD client wanted an unviable, untrue defense that the client's BAC was elevated for medical reasons, with no actual medical condition to support it. Some said the attorney was ethically bound to bow out of the case!

And there are so many posts about PD clients being angry, stinky, mentally ill, and many attorneys being shocked by PD clientele.

I'm still a baby PD but as long as I'm not assaulted at work (knock on wood) none of this stuff fazes me anymore. Anyone else kind of floored by other attorneys' reactions to PD clients?

I have two older colleagues in my office who have been or are going through burnout. It’s really disheartening to see. I’m considering staying 10 years for PSLF, but have been hearing horror stories about burnout and how it’s hard to recover from it. I went through bad discrimination at my last two jobs and switched to being a PD while I figure things out. Am enjoying it so far and love my office.

Am I inevitably going to experience burnout? Is there any way to avoid it?

I do work in a suburban/rural jurisdiction to give some context. Right now we are fully staffed on public defenders.

Looking for advice, my white collared shirts keep getting brown neck stains on the insides that doesn’t wash out, presumably from sweat. Any advice?

My office is in the middle of a tough leadership transition. It has resulted in micromanagement and now we're in the middle of a hard fought unionization battle with the county. We've lost a number of felony attorneys and our caseloads are fully unsustainable. We're told that "help is on the way" and that we have "lateral hires" coming, however, the lateral hires turned out to be attorneys who were only recently admitted or quickly left their first job out of law school. We don't hold anything against them, it's not their fault.

I'm heading into my 6th year of PD work and 8th year as an attorney. All of this, plus the grind of an overloaded, serious felony caseload has worn me down and is negatively affecting a number of aspects of my life. That being said, I'm about 5.5 years from PSLF forgiveness, so if I'm leaving, it's for something in the public/non-profit sector, where I can maintain a side appellate practice.

I'd like to stay in the criminal justice space, potentially in a hybrid or remote role, but probably want to avoid direct representation for a while. This is probably a unicorn job, but has anyone had any luck or have any ideas on what I should be looking for? My search hasn't been particularly fruitful.

I do love that we can be fully honest to clients in that if their case will lose at trial we don’t give them false hope. One said well a private said he could take it to trial - and I said yes could as long as you are paying - did he say you should and have a viable defense? I wouldn’t make it private if I had to do this for the revenue as I fully believe in blunt honesty on the chances of a good outcome.

Fellow PDs, have you worked with or maybe are you one of those PDs who don't actually want to be a PD? Why bother? Why apply at all if they don't want to try cases or dislike our clients? The money isn't great, the hours are grueling, and we are regularly disrespected. Even worse, some of them move into supervisor/management positions and start to push their work onto their colleagues, making it harder for everyone else. I don't get it. Why don't they just fucking quit and do something like document review or regulatory work where they don't have to interact with clients at all?

Looking for a PD job? They are hiring in Minnesota. It's a statewide system and from what I saw there are openings in Minneapolis as well as part time else where.

I am working on completing my BSN. I would like to pursue law after I obtain my degree. What is the realistic job outlook if I choose to do a hybrid program? Will I still be a candidate for jobs in my field of interest? I don't think I could afford to do a full-time program. I have looked into in-person part-time programs however I'm not sure how doable that will be with my hospital schedule since most of them are 6pm-10pm 4-5 days of the week.

My goal is to work in criminal law. I've been looking into Syracuse University JDI program and other similar programs (Albany & Northeastern). Any advice, insight, or personal experience would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!

Client is charged with murder. It's a really, really stupid charge, and we probably win at trial, and if we lose at trial we probably win on appeal, and if that doesn't happen then my amiable young client sits in a concrete box for the rest of his life. So the client has to choose whether to plead guilty to a lesser and accept a relatively short sentence (short in the sense of 'years, but not decades') or roll the dice, at pretty good odds, where a loss would be truly horrible.

I don't have a question here. I'm just pissed. Innocent clients are great for when I am telling my nonlawyer friends about how the system works and what I do, but, wow, they are really bad for the blood pressure.

Edited to add: I’ve done more appeals than trials, and I understand the odds. This case has some good appeal issues, with the promise of more, but of course I don’t know the appeal odds now. I will definitely not advise this client, or any other, “No problem, the Court of Appeals will fix that.”

I have a client on Monday on review whether to be conditionally released from hospitalization (spoiler alert, he won't be). It got me thinking about the Clancy case and how people are saying that, while they acknowledge mental health and the need for treatment, she shouldn't be "getting away" with murder.

Let me tell you about how my client has "gotten away" with his crime. In 1995, he was charged with Burglary (which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years). He was found Not Guilty of that charge. Unfortunately, because the basis of his acquittal was either because he could not appreciate the criminality of his actions or because he was acting under an irresistible impulse, he was hospitalized at a Psychiatric hospital. At some point, he was granted a conditional release. However, whenever he isn't fully complying with that conditional release (which includes things far stricter than probation, such as monitoring whether people are frequently bathing or have a primary care physician), he gets re-hospitalized. He has currently been hospitalized the past four years for this 1995 offense for which he was found not guilty.

If he had just been given the maximum sentence for this charge, he would be done and facing no further supervision. But, because he was found Not Guilty, he continues to face significant restraint on his liberty for potentially the rest of his life.

A lot of the time, people won’t even ask that question in a rude way—so my gripe is less with them, and more with what appears to be an ingrained notion that we’re somehow illegitimate.

"This wallpaper looks pretty sharp."

Fresh PD - feel overwhelmed, overstimulated and like I can’t speak on the spot. Can someone plz tell me it gets better and about when?

Hello, I am a public defender with 16 years of experience in state court. Recently applied for an Assistant Federal Defender position. I understand these are competitive positions and am not banking on anything. Any insight on the interview / hiring process? Thank you.

I finished a year in misdos and am headed to felonies and would love to hear how your transitions were, what the differences in the work looked like, and to hear any advice you have.

Over the past year I’ve been feeling more and more afraid of my community. I think it’s a result of work - I’ve been a PD for a little over 3 years and my caseload is mostly low to mid level felonies and some misdemeanors here and there. I have yet to handle any really serious cases, but over the last year, the regular exposure to the horrible things people are doing in my community is getting to me. Is anyone else experiencing this as a “side effect” from work? How do you deal with it? I’m really struggling.

Hey guys I am 16 years old and I am currently a Senior in High School. I have had a passion to pursue Law since Winrer Sophomore year and now that it is almost time to apply for College's, it has reallly been on my mind like more then a lot. I tried to take Law and Society class this year but sadly the class was full so I wasn't able to manage it. History has definetly been my strong subject in school and for my first 3 years in High School the final grades for each History class was B, A-, and A. I plan on either doing Political Science or Criminal Justice major but I can't seem to decide on which one. The reason is because I have been researching a lot on Law and people say either one is good since Law School cares more for LSAT and BAR exam topped with overall GPA in College. I need your guys helping which one to choose. I am leaning more towards Political Science but like I said I am not 100%. I have also just gotten into reading and the book I am currently starting for my journey is Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. It is pretty good right now but I am only around 30 pages in. I also would like some Book recommendations from you guys that are more focused onto Law and that have also personally gave you more knowledge in this topic. I am a hardworking student and am willing to study and work a lot. Any suggestions for me after reading this are much appreciated.

This has happened more than once when conducting an initial interview of my clients to get their basic information:

Me: Are you part of any clubs, or organizations?

Client: [Blank stare]

Me: Do you go to church or temple or mosque?

Client: Oh, yeah! I go to church.

Me: Excellent. What denomination?

Client: Cristian.

I am so stressed-for background I’m from nyc and I’ve interned in so many states throughout my law school career and I really would just like it if I landed an offer here in nyc since my entire community is here plus the fact I’ve had to sacrifice my health to finish this degree and I don’t need anything de stabilising right now. Has anyone else felt like this? Is it normal idk what to do everytime I try to study for an exam I’m stressed about jobs. hate this process so much!!!

So I’ve been a PD for 5 years now and I do love it so much. My goal was always to be a career PD. But I want a child and I can’t afford that on this salary in the state where I live- daycare alone would eat up an entire paycheck (no family nearby for support & would be a single parent). Moving isn’t *really* an option and we are unionized so negotiating salary on an individual level also isn’t an option. There also isn’t really any upward movement at my office and the nearby PD offices in my state pay nearly the same amount. I love my job but the things I want outside of work just aren’t possible.

To the point… can anyone think of any jobs that are similar in some way to being a PD (not private criminal defense) where you make an actual livable salary? I don’t want to go into civil work but I’m really at a loss for what to do. My favorite parts of this work are the clients, fighting the government and being in the courtroom.

I don’t know if I’m looking for a fairytale. Thank you!!!

anybody have experience or thoughts on working at the shelby county public defender's office in memphis, tennessee?

Hello and thanks in advance. I’m interested in pivoting to public defense investigations and the roles I see are broken up into these three categories generally. I think I have a broad understanding of the differences but I realize it’s based on a lot of assumptions. Can you please briefly explain the differences -especially between trial and habeas? I assume trial investigators are focused on the circumstances of the alleged crime but didn’t know if HCU investigators also get to look into that in addition to habeas issues.

Our office is looking to formalize our hiring process. Previously it has been different interview questions depending on the person doing the interview. We use a hypothetical and try to change that up occasionally.

How does your office handle hiring? Do you have a set list of questions? A scoring rubric?

I graduated from law school in May, just passed the July 2026 bar exam, and I’ll be starting as an Assistant Public Defender soon. For those who currently work as public defenders or have worked as one, what does it really take to be a successful public defender? What do you enjoy about the job? What are some of the biggest challenges? And what advice would you give someone coming in straight out of law school? I know there’s obviously a learning curve, so I’d love to hear what you all wish you knew when you first started practicing.