Expert Services

We provide technical assistance that is tailored to the unique needs and requests in each jurisdiction. This ranges from staffing government task forces, to holding confidential one-on-one meetings, to testifying before legislatures when asked. We also educate the public through speaking engagements, our Pleading the Sixth blog, and sharing what we know about the right to counsel so you can help fix the issue.

Government Technical Assistance

Speaking Engagements

  • September 25, 2023

    South Dakota Unified Judicial System’s Task Force to Examine the Delivery of Indigent Defense Pierre, South Dakota

    Executive Director David Carroll and Deputy Director Aditi Goel participate in the Task Force meeting studying indigent defense services.
  • August 29, 2023

    South Dakota Unified Judicial System’s Task Force to Examine the Delivery of Indigent Defense Pierre, South Dakota

    Executive Director David Carroll and Senior Program Manager Aditi Goel participate in the Task Force meeting studying indigent defense services.
  • July 31, 2023

    South Dakota Unified Judicial System’s Task Force to Examine the Delivery of Indigent Defense Pierre, South Dakota

    Executive Director David Carroll and Senior Program Manager Aditi Goel participate in the Task Force meeting studying indigent defense services.
  • June 20, 2023

    South Dakota Unified Judicial System’s Task Force to Examine the Delivery of Indigent Defense Pierre, South Dakota

    Executive Director David Carroll and Senior Program Manager Aditi Goel participate in the Task Force meeting studying indigent defense services.
  • May 11, 2023

    Oregon Legislature, Senate Rules Committee Salem, Oregon

    Deputy Director Jon Mosher participates in a formal information session on proposed indigent defense system reforms at the invitation of the Committee Chair. Mosher testifies on the absence of state accountability and the financial conflicts of interest caused by Oregon’s continued use of flat fee contracting for direct services.
  • April 26, 2023

    South Dakota Unified Judicial System’s Task Force to Examine the Delivery of Indigent Defense Pierre, South Dakota

    Executive Director David Carroll and Senior Program Manager Aditi Goel participate in the Task Force meeting studying indigent defense services.
  • March 23, 2023

    Harris County, Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright Houston, Texas - by videoconference

    Executive Director David Carroll participates in a panel discussion to talk about indigent defense reform. Other panelists include: Alex Bunin, Chief Public Defender in Harris County; The Honorable Judge Keith P. Ellison, Southern District of Texas; Allison Mathis, Supervising Attorney for Neighborhood Defender Services; and Brandon Ball, Harris County Public Defender Office.
  • March 20, 2023

    New Mexico Law Offices of the Public Defender, Gideon Day 2023 Webinar By videoconference

    Deputy Director Jon Mosher presents “Gideon at 60: A national perspective on the Status of the Right to Counsel,” comparing New Mexico’s recent and ongoing reform efforts to trends observed from 6AC studies of other states’ systems.
  • March 2, 2023

    United States Department of Justice, Office for Access to Justice, National Public Defense Day Tour Miami, Florida

    Executive Director David Carroll presents “Early Appointment of Counsel at Gideon’s 60th Anniversary,” as the DOJ launch a cross-country tour in honor of the 60th Anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright called “Six Stops for the Sixth Amendment” elevating the importance of public defense services. The event featured the Deputy Attorney General, Lisa Monaco, and Director of the Office for Access to Justice, Rachel Rossi.
  • February 23, 2023

    Oregon Public Defense Services Commission, Annual Public Defense Providers Summit By videoconference

    Deputy Director Jon Mosher presents the right to counsel in Oregon, and the need for legislative reforms to state’s indigent defense system to correct deficiencies identified in 6AC’s statewide evaluation.
  • February 8, 2023

    New York University School of Law New York, New York

    Program Manager Rachael Liebert speaks to first-year law students on the important role critical indigent defense systems play in the criminal justice system and the role of defense counsel in plea bargaining.
  • January 11, 2023

    University of Connecticut School of Law Hartford, Connecticut

    Program Manager Rachael Liebert speaks to first-year law students on the critical role strong indigent defense systems play in the criminal justice system and the role of defense counsel in plea bargaining.

While a criminal trial is not a game in which the participants are expected to enter the ring with a near match in skills, neither is it a sacrifice of unarmed prisoners to gladiators.

— United States v. Cronic (1984)

That government hires lawyers to prosecute and defendants who have the money hire lawyers to defend are the strongest indications of the widespread belief that lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries.

— Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

We reject … the premise that, since prosecutions for crimes punishable by imprisonment for less than six months may be tried without a jury, they may also be tried without a lawyer.

— Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972)