Public Defender Court Project

Equal Justice Works and the Southern Public Defender Training Center (SPDTC) have partnered to develop a national, public defender fellowship program called Public Defender Corps (PDC). PDC will partner with public defender offices that confront challenges to their ability to provide clients the representation our Constitution guarantees. Through a rigorous, national recruitment effort, the partnering organizations will continue to identify recent law graduates qualified to help carry the mission, train and coach them to provide the highest quality of legal representation and place the lawyers in select public defender office host sites. These PDC fellows will participate in an intensive, three-year training and mentorship program designed both to make them better public defenders as well as to help them develop into future indigent defense leaders who will protect the sixth amendment rights of all individuals regardless of class or income.

NCA/NCF