Description:
Summary:DPD is recruiting 3rd year law students, judicial clerks, and fellows to begin employment Fall 2026.
The Department of Public Defense (DPD) seeks thoughtful, creative, energetic advocates to join our dynamic and diverse team which includes a staff of over 450 including attorneys, mitigation specialists, investigators, paralegals, and legal administrators who collaborate to advance our clients' goals.
DPD prides itself on hiring client-centered advocates. We prefer applicants who have participated in a law school clinical program, interned for a public defender program, or who have lived experience in the criminal legal or family surveillance systems.
Why Join DPD?
DPD is a well-resourced public defense agency in a state that was the first to adopt new caseload standards grounded in the National Public Defense Workload Study (RAND). In July 2025, we began implementing the first phase of a case-weight credit model designed to promote sustainable workloads and ensure that every client receives the time and attention their case requires. Felony cases are assigned between 1 and 8 credits based on the seriousness of the alleged offense, with a first-year cap of 110 credits. This marks the beginning of a multi-year phased reduction process aimed at helping public defenders meet their constitutional and ethical obligations to each client.
Our model is based on the Washington State Bar Association's Standards for Indigent Defense Services (revised September 2024), which apply to both criminal and family defense. The goal is to create conditions where public defenders can consistently provide the level of representation the Constitution demands—while building sustainable and fulfilling careers in service to our clients and communities.
DPD provides high quality legal representation to indigent clients facing felony or misdemeanor charges in adult or juvenile court, loss of family integrity in dependency and termination cases, and petitions for involuntary commitment because of alleged mental illness or substance abuse.
We also advocate to reduce the harm and reach of the criminal and civil legal systems that restrict our clients' liberty and disproportionately impact marginalized communities. Internally, we strive to foster a flexible workplace culture that is inclusive, respectful, and supportive—grounded in a shared commitment to anti-oppression principles and equity across lines of race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, class, and other identities.
To learn more about DPD, visit our website. (https://kingcounty.gov/depts/public-defense.aspx)
As a DPD Attorney, you will enjoy:
- Competitive Pay.
- A comprehensive benefits (https://kingcounty.gov/en/legacy/audience/employees/benefits) package, including a pension. (https://kingcounty.gov/en/legacy/audience/employees/benefits/retirement)
- Support from a unionized workplace.
- A chance to make a meaningful impact on the lives of those navigating the criminal and civil legal systems.
- Extensive courtroom and trial experience, supported by a team that includes supervisors, investigators, paralegals, legal assistants, and mitigation specialists.
- Opportunities to work across multiple practice areas, including adult criminal, juvenile, dependency, and involuntary commitment courts.
- Resources to mount a robust defense, including funding for expert witnesses.
- Access to mentoring and high-quality training, both in-house and through national programs.
- Caseloads, among the most sustainable in the country, grounded in a phased case-weight model based on national research.
- Generous vacation and sick leave to support attorney well-being and career sustainability.
Job Duties:
- Provide high-quality legal representation and advocacy for indigent clients, including individuals with limited English proficiency and those with disabilities.
- Handle all stages of representation—from arraignment through trial, and when necessary, sentencing and select post-conviction motions—under DPD's vertical model of public defense, which ensures continuity of representation by the same attorney throughout the case.
- Conduct plea negotiations, mitigation, and other case resolution strategies.
- Engage in motions practice, including legal research, drafting, and arguing pretrial motions, often in collaboration with expert witnesses.
- Represent and advocate for a diverse client base, including individuals experiencing mental illness, substance use disorder, and/or trauma.
- Develop and implement effective legal strategies that address both legal and client-centered needs, in collaboration with investigators, mitigation specialists, and paralegals.
Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills:
Required Qualifications:
- JD from an accredited law school.
- Sit for the Washington State Bar Examination in July 2026 or, for clerks and fellows, admission to the bar in Washington or another state that would enable qualification under Rule 8.
- Be at least 21 years old.
- Be able to handle on-call 24-hour coverage–which, per attorney, currently occurs approximately one week a year or two Saturday calendars a year.
- Have the ability to travel throughout King County.
Ability to:
- Develop trial, research, and writing skills. Provide client-driven representation that includes frequent and detailed communication with the client, choosing the most effective medium for the client.
- Champion equity and human rights; possess an understanding of pervasive, systematic racism and its long-term effects; feels comfortable engaging in candid and sincere conversations about race and equity in our work.
- Manage the competing needs of multiple clients in a fast-paced environment.
- Communicate effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those experiencing stress, trauma, or mental illness, while providing respectful and client-centered representation.
- Thrives in a diverse work environment, respecting differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, religion, and national origin.
- Thrives in a diverse work environment and in service to a diverse clientele—respecting differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, religion, national origin, and other lived experiences—while recognizing our shared humanity.
In addition, it is highly desirable if you:
- Have proficiency in languages other than English, particularly Spanish.
- Possess clinical training in public defense.
- Lived experience as someone impacted by the criminal legal system or family surveillance system.
- Candidates hired through this recruitment will be considered by DPD for initial salary placement at Steps 3 through 4 ($103,272.25 - $118,237.19), dependent upon experience.