Does Client-Centered Representation Disrupt Mass Criminalization? An Analysis of Attorney-Client Relationships in a Southeastern Public Defender Office

• In Event: Global Struggles, Local Practices: Cause Lawyering in Crises of Democracy

Abstract

This paper presents ethnographic fieldwork conducted at a public defender office in a Southeastern city, referred to as “Center City.” The Center City office is connected to Gideon’s Promise, an organization focused on training public defenders in client-centered advocacy to challenge mass criminalization. The lead author shadowed three attorneys over nearly a year (2021-2022), observing their interactions with clients and court proceedings. Fourteen clients were followed through their cases and interviewed before and after the study whenever possible.
Drawing on courtroom workgroups and relational theory, the paper explores how public defenders’ relationships with clients are shaped by decisions made by prosecutors, judges, and other court personnel, highlighting how this structural dependence perpetuates racial and class inequalities in the justice system. Client-centered tactics can improve relational dynamics and perceptions of procedural justice in court, but they do little to address the structural issues of mass criminalization, including widespread legal estrangement among disadvantaged defendants and high occupational stress among public defenders.

Author

• Caity Curry, Hamline University