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

  • 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.
    South Dakota Unified Judicial System’s Task Force to Examine the Delivery of Indigent Defense
  • 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.
    South Dakota Unified Judicial System’s Task Force to Examine the Delivery of Indigent Defense
  • 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.
    South Dakota Unified Judicial System’s Task Force to Examine the Delivery of Indigent Defense
  • 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.
    Oregon Legislature, Senate Rules Committee
  • 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.
    South Dakota Unified Judicial System’s Task Force to Examine the Delivery of Indigent Defense
  • March 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 present to the Task Force on the history of the right to counsel in America, 6AC’s evaluation methodology, and a comparison of South Dakota’s indigent system to other states.
    South Dakota Unified Judicial System’s Task Force to Examine the Delivery of Indigent Defense
  • March 18, 2024

    Duke University School of Law Durham, North Carolina

    Senior Program Associate Lacey Coppage speaks on a panel to celebrate Gideon Day and discuss the state of indigent defense.
    Duke University School of Law
  • October 19, 2023

    Guam Symposium: “Gideon @ 60” Hagåtña, Guam

    Participants: 6AC's David Carroll, former Chief Justice and current Justice, Hon. F. Phillip Carbullido; Speaker of the House, Rep. Theresa Terlaje; Governor’s Legal Counsel, Jeffrey Moots; and former lawyer from the Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia, Jason Downs.
    Guam Symposium: “Gideon @ 60”
  • September 29, 2023

    Snohomish County Public Defender Association Everett, Washington

    Executive Director David Carroll and Senior Program Associate Lacey Coppage present the history of the right to counsel in Washington and how Washington’s indigent defense services compare to other states.
    Snohomish County Public Defender Association
  • September 8, 2023

    Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Council on Public Defense Seattle, Washington

    Executive Director David Carroll and Senior Program Associate Lacey Coppage present on the history of the right to counsel in Washington and how Washington’s indigent defense services compare to other states.
    Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Council on Public Defense
  • 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.
    Harris County, Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright
  • 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.
    New Mexico Law Offices of the Public Defender, Gideon Day 2023 Webinar
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)