Everyone at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office works tirelessly to provide the highest level of professional legal representation and support for our clients. Our work is rooted in community.

If you have a passion for defending the voiceless, and the skills and training necessary to execute the highest level of work, consider joining our team as an attorney, investigator, paralegal, social worker, clerk, or other support staff.

Open only to second and third year law students, the program provides law students with hands-on experience meeting clients, researching the law, writing memos and motions, as well as assisting attorneys in the courtroom.

Open to attorneys with limited courtroom experience, the VAP program requires a (more than) full-time, 4 month commitment in the Office’s Misdemeanor Unit. VAP lawyers are the only volunteers who are allowed to handle their own caseload and try cases.

Our Court Watch program brings students, interns, and community members into the courtroom as observers and turns them into reporters. Develop your skills as an observer, a writer and a legal professional by following the court proceedings from the lens of a public defender.