Law MDefenders Public Defender Training Institute ‑ 339232

MDefenders is a faculty-sponsored student organization as well as a network of courses, programming, and resources that support public defense education at Michigan Law and beyond.Founded in 2014, MDefenders has five key components:

A community of students who gather regularly to discuss and learn about indigent defense and criminal legal system reform.

The Public Defender Training Institute (PDTI), a yearlong course for 2L and 3L students that produces trial-ready graduates by immersing them in the world of public defense.

Career resources and mentorship to help aspiring public defenders locate suitable positions and excel in the application process, including one-on-one faculty meetings to discuss different types of indigent defense and to formulate an application strategy for specific offices and positions.

A network of alumni who are committed to supporting each other and current students in finding, applying, and securing positions in public defense and raising the level of representation wherever they go.

Data for Defenders, a public database to promote evidence-based advocacy by providing defenders with the resources they need to incorporate social science research into defense advocacy, including sample briefs, motions, and transcripts.

Donations made to this fund will support the staffing and programmatic needs of MDefenders’s Public Defender Training Institute and enable the development of MDefenders’s career resources, alumni network, and the Data for Defenders project. To learn more about MDefenders, please visit our website at https://michigan.law.umich.edu/mdefenders.