Public Defender as a Career

Are you thinking of attending law school or switching legal careers? About to graduate and wondering which path to take? Are you curious about what lawyers in different fields do in a typical day? Then spend twenty-four hours with twenty-four lawyers through this innovative book, 24 Hours with 24 Lawyers. Whether you want to be a full-time corporate lawyer, work as a legal consultant while pursuing your music career, or anything in between, this book gives you a unique "all-access pass" into the real-world, real-time personal and professional lives of twenty-four law school graduates. These working professionals each present you with a "Profile" chronicling a typical twenty-four-hour day in their traditional and non-traditional careers. You will read actual twenty-four-hour accounts from the perspective of a venture capitalist, Wall Street lawyer, lobbyist, entertainment lawyer, IP attorney, sports broadcaster, JAG officer, prosecutor, criminal defense lawyer, mediator, and politician, just to name a few. From the time they wake up in the morning to the time they go to bed, each professional illustrates what their position entails on a day-to-day basis and will give you invaluable, informative, and honest insight above and beyond what many brochures, guest lectures, career workshops, or law firm website descriptions can provide. After reading 24 Hours with 24 Lawyers, you'll be better prepared to determine which career Profile may suit you best before accepting a new job or investing in a legal education. Book jacket.

Picking up where Exploring and Understanding Careers in Criminal Justice, left off, Matthew J. Sheridan and Thomas J. Lalka provide an updated guide for the novice and professional alike. The chapters are crafted to provide essential information to guide the job seeker from entrance into the profession, through career development, occupational refocus, professional options, to retirement preparation. Taking into consideration the effects of the pandemic, current social unrest, and recent tragedies, the authors examine how the "new normal" will bring change and opportunities throughout criminal justice careers. With an emphasis on planning, personal development, and preparation this book outlines career paths that can provide rewards for satisfaction during and after careers. On top of invaluable information on a variety of specific careers, this book also includes sixteen appendices that cover successful job hunting, internships, a guide to interview questions, a document portfolio checklist, paying for college, and profiles of 18 professionals in criminal justice field from a parole officer to a correctional architect. This is an excellent resource for students, faculty, advisors, and classroom instruction for guidance into a successful criminal justice career that will be loved, from first employment to retirement. cklist, paying for college, and profiles of 18 professionals in criminal justice field from a parole officer to a correctional architect. This is an excellent resource for students, faculty, advisors, and classroom instruction for guidance into a successful criminal justice career that will be loved, from first employment to retirement. cklist, paying for college, and profiles of 18 professionals in criminal justice field from a parole officer to a correctional architect. This is an excellent resource for students, faculty, advisors, and classroom instruction for guidance into a successful criminal justice career that will be loved, from first employment to retirement.

Choosing a legal career that fits a student's personality, skillset, and aspirations is the most important and difficult decision a law student faces, yet only a small number of law schools incorporate career-planning into their curriculums. Law Jobs: The Complete Guide seeks to fill the gap. Written by three award-winning professors, Law Jobs is a comprehensive, reader-friendly guide to every type of legal career. Packed with authoritative research and featuring comments from more than 150 lawyers who do the jobs, Law Jobs offers in-depth exploration of each career option, including general background, pros and cons, day in the life descriptions, job availability, compensation, prospects for advancement, diversity, and how students can best position themselves for opportunities in the field. Covered jobs include:Large and Medium-Sized Law FirmsSmall Firms and Solo PractitionersIn-House and Other Corporate CounselGovernment Agency LawyersNon-Governmental Public Interest LawProsecutors and Public DefendersPrivate Criminal DefenseJD Advantage JobsContract (Freelance) LawyeringJudges, Mediators, and ArbitratorsJudicial Law ClerksLegal Academic JobsOther chapters address lawyer happiness, the rapidly changing face of the legal profession due to technology and other forces, the division between litigation and transactional law, and the top-50 legal specialty areas.Together, the authors have received more than thirty awards for teaching and research, and have written extensively about law students and lawyers in books such as 1L of a Ride (McClurg), A Lawyer Writes (Coughlin), and The Happy Lawyer (Levit).

An unprecedented account of social stratification within the US legal profession. How do race, class, gender, and law school status condition the career trajectories of lawyers? And how do professionals then navigate these parameters? The Making of Lawyers' Careers provides an unprecedented account of the last two decades of the legal profession in the US, offering a data-backed look at the structure of the profession and the inequalities that early-career lawyers face across race, gender, and class distinctions. Starting in 2000, the authors collected over 10,000 survey responses from more than 5,000 lawyers, following these lawyers through the first twenty years of their careers. They also interviewed more than two hundred lawyers and drew insights from their individual stories, contextualizing data with theory and close attention to the features of a market-driven legal profession. Their findings show that lawyers' careers both reflect and reproduce inequalities within society writ large. They also reveal how individuals exercise agency despite these constraints.

This ready reference has been designed for ready reference. Its topical index helps you access applicable points of law instantly. No other publication brings together relevant criminal law in such an easy-to-use format.

This manual provides relevant law and practice pointers for attorneys representing juveniles in delinquency proceedings, from intake to disposition and beyond. The topics include: petition and summons, custody hearings, probable cause and transfer hearings, discovery, motions to suppress, plea negotiations, adjudicatory hearings, dispositional hearings, probation, commitment, appeals, and expunction. View this manual, a reference in the School's Indigent Defense Manual Series, free of charge at defendermanuals.sog.unc.edu.

This ready reference provides easy access to all North Carolina criminal and motor vehicle laws and regulations, including excerpts from North Carolina General Statutes; North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety regulations; North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles regulations; A tables of contents, running heads, and a comprehensive index help you find the laws you need quickly.

Strong's North Carolina Index, 4th offers practical and detailed coverage of the civil and criminal law of North Carolina — both substantive and procedural — based on state statutes and state and federal case law. This work includes an A-to-Z analysis of state law, as enacted by the legislature or passed upon by the state or federal courts.

In Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward, the premise is that much can be learned by "stepping back" from the focus on the direct causes of wrongful convictions and examining criminal justice systems, and the sociopolitical environments in which they operate. Expert scholars examine the underlying individual, systemic, and social or structural conditions that may help precipitate and sustain wrongful convictions, thereby "moving forward" the related scholarship.

Federal Criminal Discovery thoroughly covers each of the different methods of discovery available to the parties in federal criminal cases. It serves as an invaluable resource for judges, academics, prosecutors, and defense lawyers by providing an exhaustive discussion on the statutory and constitutional bases for discovery, and by covering the existing law fairly while examining both sides of the issues.

Every day, in courtrooms around the United States, thousands of criminal defendants are represented by public defenders--lawyers provided by the government for those who cannot afford private counsel. Though often taken for granted, the modern American public defender has a surprisingly contentious history--one that offers insights not only about the "carceral state," but also about the contours and compromises of twentieth-century liberalism.

"Indefensible is public defender David Feige's hair-raising, dark, and stirring account of a single hot day in the South Bronx - a day informed by crime, punishment, desperation, and hope. Following Feige through the underworld of big-city justice, we meet sly lawyers and batty judges, hapless defendants and crooked cops, lost souls and courageous giant-killers." "Indefensible reveals the brutal underbelly of a system out of control. Racing from courtroom to courtroom, Feige gives us the most intimate account ever written about what it is really like to be public defender. We meet his fellow attorneys and investigators and follow them as they hunt down clues and frantically try to ensure that justice is done."

These are the faces and voices of the wrongfully convicted: fifty men and women who were imprisoned for years before proving their innocence with the help of The Innocence Project, which strives to transform criminal justice into a more equitable and reliable system. The personal testimonies of these victims of mistaken identity lay bare the paradox of innocence and imprisonment, the inability to recover the years stolen from them, and the state's unconscionable refusal to compensate them or ease their traumatic transition to civilian life. In full-colour throughout.

The North Carolina Indigent Defense Manual Series is a collection of reference manuals addressing law and practice in areas in which indigent defendants and respondents are entitled to representation of counsel at state expense. The series was created to address the need for comprehensive reference materials for public defenders and appointed counsel, who devote their time, skill, and effort to representing poor people.

A blistering critique of America's assembly-line approach to criminal justice and the shameful practice at its core: the plea bargain  Most Americans believe that the jury trial is the backbone of our criminal justice system. But in fact, the vast majority of cases never make it to trial: almost all criminal convictions are the result of a plea bargain, a deal made entirely out of the public eye.  Law professor and civil rights lawyer Dan Canon argues that plea bargaining may swiftly dispose of cases, but it also fuels an unjust system. This practice produces a massive underclass of people who are restricted from voting, working, and otherwise participating in society. And while innocent people plead guilty to crimes they did not commit in exchange for lesser sentences, the truly guilty can get away with murder.  With heart-wrenching stories, fierce urgency, and an insider's perspective, Pleading Out exposes the ugly truth about what's wrong with America's criminal justice system today--and offers a prescription for meaningful change.    

Weiss finds that public defenders’ motivations may be “pragmatic” and include the opportunity for trials or the lifestyle advantages that come with government legal work. Others may be “political” -- the desire to give meaning to constitutional protections, the altruistic urge to help others, or the chance to confront police, prosecutors and judges who many public defenders believe treat their clients unfairly. These sentiments arise frequently and their expression suggests that they comprise a mindset unique to public defenders. While critics claim that public defenders lack the dedication to represent poor clients effectively, Weiss concludes that many are passionate about their work, seeing it as a way to challenge the mistreatment they believe their clients suffer.

Eighty to ninety percent of the nation's urban criminal defendants are defended in court by public defenders. Thus, understanding how these defender programs operate, their effectiveness and the quality of professional life for these beleaguered and often underpaid attorneys, is a critical factor in improving local criminal justice systems. What is it like to practice law in such an inhospitable environment, where clients often revile their counsel and prosecutors hold defenders in contempt? How does a public defender maintain self-esteem and dignity? What are the particular problems and obstacles of public defender offices? And how might such departments overcome these obstacles so that defendants and defenders, as well as the public, benefit?

An extensive analysis of two complementary rights of the accused, their interpretation by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the ongoing debate over their role in the criminal justice system. Right to Counsel and Privilege against Self-Incrimination: Rights and Liberties under the Law explores the origins, historical development, current status, and future of two rights intended to protect persons accused of crimes. Two shocking case studies--Powell v. Alabama and Brown v. Mississippi--reveal the brutal injustices suffered by Southern blacks in the 1930s and explain how the Supreme Court made landmark decisions to expand the coverage of the right to counsel and the privilege against self-incrimination. After a brief review of the English and colonial origins of these rights, a careful analysis of each focuses primarily on the revolutionary cases of the 20th century that produced a convergence of these rights in the famous case of Miranda v. Arizona (1966). The work examines subsequent cases and discusses issues that lie ahead, including those related to the war on terror.

For centuries, most people believed the criminal justice system worked - that only guilty defendants were convicted. DNA technology shattered that belief. DNA has now freed more than three hundred innocent prisoners in the United States. This book examines the lessons learned from twenty-five years of DNA exonerations and identifies lingering challenges. By studying the dataset of DNA exonerations, we know that precise factors lead to wrongful convictions. These include eyewitness misidentifications, false confessions, dishonest informants, poor defense lawyering, weak forensic evidence, and prosecutorial misconduct. In Part I, scholars discuss the efforts of the Innocence Movement over the past quarter century to expose the phenomenon of wrongful convictions and to implement lasting reforms. In Part II, another set of researchers looks ahead and evaluates what still needs to be done to realize the ideal of a more accurate system.