Office News

We are proud to celebrate the life and work of our former colleague Harry Sayle III by introducing our summer internship Appellate Intensive, named in his honor.

The Shelby County Public Defender was proud to join Volunteer Memphis for the 9/11 Day of Service by delivering meals to Memphis Fire Station No. 22 and thanking the firefighters and first responders there who serve our community each day.

A century-old office and 20,000 clients a year should not require a scavenger hunt. The rebuilt defendshelbyco.org starts with the questions a newly appointed client actually asks — and works backward from there.

They came from Columbia, Memphis, and sixteen other law schools to sit at counsel table, not in the gallery. This summer’s cohort spent ten weeks on real cases — and left knowing what this work actually asks of a lawyer.

The Shelby County Public Defender’s Office recently welcomed JusticeText CEO Devshi Mehrotra and Caroline Hanson for a training with our attorneys and support staff.

A decade of felony trials in his own city, when he could have practiced anywhere. The office names its internship program for Nigel Lewis so the next generation of defenders learns the work the way he lived it.