Partners for Justice

We're incredibly grateful for the high praise and belief in collaborative defense from Stanford Law School's John Donohue and Eric Baldwin in this AMAZING op-ed piece published by Project Syndicate. You may not realize this, but odds are you know someone represented by a public defender—because 80% of accused people cannot afford counsel, about a third of Americans have had a loved one counselled by a public defender. Expanding what public defenders can do—and helping more people get access to things like housing, medicine, and emergency aid—is what drives us and this work. We are so excited about our partnership with Stanford Impact Labs to validate the outcomes of Collaborative Defense through external evaluations of our work and cannot wait to see what the future holds for the collaborative defense movement! #publicdefender #criminaljustice #legalnews

Are you ready to create meaningful impact, serve clients, and gain hands-on experience in the criminal legal system? Partners for Justice is recruiting Client Advocates for its Professional Fellowship Program in multiple locations nationwide, and our Fall cycle applications are open! We expect to hire 15-18 positions to start in January 2025 in New Jersey, California, Colorado, Montana, and New Orleans. The application lists specific locations, and the timeline is on our website. Please share with your networks! https://lnkd.in/gYexXmR8 #hiring #socialjustice #nonprofit

How it started vs. how it's going. About this time—roughly six years ago—ten talented early-career professionals, PFJ's first-ever cohort of Client Advocates, walked into public defender offices in Wilmington, Delaware, and Alameda County, California, to begin their first day. Fast forward a metamorphic six years, and here we are—over 100 Client Advocates strong, placed with over 20 public defenders across 15 states, and over 100 alumni pursuing incredible careers in the legal profession and beyond. Collaborative Defense is a movement, and it grows by the day.

Last week, we welcomed over 150 Client Advocates, supervisors, partners, and national staff members to Houston for our annual Collaborative Defense Conference. Our conference was a chance to collaborate, celebrate, and learn from each other. PFJ placed its first cohort of Advocates in Wilmington, Delaware, and Oakland, California, just over six years ago. Now, we have over 100 Advocates embedded in over 20 offices across 15 states nationwide. Collaborative defense is a movement, and it grows stronger by the day.

On Wednesday, we celebrated the second-year Client Advocates during PFJ's Stepping Up Ceremony. During the event, PFJ program managers spoke about the direct impact Advocates made on the lives of their clients and the incredible partnership they bring to partner offices. Collaborative Defense is built upon the efforts of many, and PFJ Client Advocates are critical to the mission of transforming public defense. We are all so proud of what these Advocates have achieved and what we know they will accomplish in the future.

On Monday, we welcomed PFJ's newest cohort of Client Advocates to Houston for our 2024 Collaborative Defense Conference. We'll be in H-Town all week, training advocates and connecting with supervisors from partner offices nationwide. This year's cohort is PFJ's largest yet, and we're so excited to gather in person to celebrate the power of collaborative defense and further our mission of transforming public defense nationwide.

This week, we're talking about slave labor, corporate greed, a proposition in California, and who really produces the food that you're buying in the supermarket. You may have thought slavery was over, but the 13th Amendment has kept it alive and well in our country's prison systems. Watch and read more below. ?? https://lnkd.in/eqz8ZSTX ?? https://lnkd.in/gDYkRrHF ?? https://lnkd.in/eaX24SG9

Gather around! This week, Emily is talking about how #prisons are being quietly used to shift political power out of black and brown communities and concentrate power in whiter, more rural places. It's called prison gerrymandering. Sounds shady, right? ?? https://lnkd.in/grmCBWhY #lawyersoflinkedin #lawyer #defenseattorney #policy

As summer closes, we are saying goodbye to the many talented and driven Client Advocates nationwide who completed their two-year fellowships with PFJ. We're so sad to see them go but excited to see all the amazing things they will accomplish in their future careers. We have Client Advocates going to law school, pursuing social work degrees, and some staying with their offices in full-time positions. At the same time, we're so thrilled to welcome aboard PFJ's newest and largest cohort of Client Advocates, who are joining public defender partners nationwide, including new collaborations in DeKalb County, Georgia; Hinds County, Mississippi; Albany, New York; Cumberland County, Pennsylvania; Snohomish County, Washington; and with the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission. This phenomenal cohort of Client Advocates are activists, community organizers, social workers, public policy advocates, student-athletes, artists, and researchers. They are multilingual, first-generation college students, first-generation Americans, and individuals directly impacted by the legal system. For the next two years, these brilliant new professionals will fight daily to minimize harm, seek noncarceral solutions, and embody client-led, collaborative defense. We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome them aboard. Read more about them here: https://lnkd.in/e5Dtgxjy

It's your weekly video! This week, Emily discusses the labor movement and how police unions use their clout to protect bad cops and oppose reforms that could increase trust and keep communities safer. ?? https://lnkd.in/esTumjPq ?? https://lnkd.in/ejAnZC56 ?? https://lnkd.in/eWss4YPb ?? https://lnkd.in/dR6rJSD #lawyersoflinkedin #defenseattorney #publicdefender #police #policetransparency #policing #unions #criminaljusticereform #reform