Nomad Public Defender Gets Another New Court

To recap my job journey since I moved over from Knoxville after law school, I became an Assistant Public Defender in August 2005, and I worked primarily in City Court in Jackson, TN (for all offenses contained within the city limits) until the end of August 2006. Then during September and October, I was the Asst. P.D. for Chester Co. (Henderson), TN, and I was in charge of the misdemeanor court (General Sessions) and all 3 divisions of felony court (Circuit Court) for that county. As of today, I'm now the Asst. P.D. for the General Sessions Court of Madison Co. (located in Jackson, TN, it has original jurisdiction over offenses that occurred within Madison Co. but outside the city limits, and it has concurrent jurisdiction with City Court over offenses that occurred within the city of Jackson). Is your head spinning yet? Good! :)

Anyhow, the change from City Court to Madison Co. Sessions was anticipated, but the couple of months I worked in Chester Co. was a result of some unexpected personnel turnover we had in the office...no big deal, Chester Co. was basically the same job with a bit more responsibility in a different place. At this rate, depending on how long I am a Public Defender here, I may end up having worked cases in every court in this judicial district, lol. It's no big deal really though...by this point I know all the judges and the DAs well enough where I could do just that if I had to...besides, it helps to network, making connections and the occasional friend in the process.

The judge in the court I work in now is very much cool and laid back, as is the District Attorney. My caseload is now about half what it was at my first two jobs. Accordingly, I am able to provide more in-depth attention and assistance to my clients, thereby accomplishing more for them and improving my job satisfaction at the same time. I actually like this court, the people in it, and the pace of the job, which has been a rarity in my legal career to date, but it's certainly a welcome change.

I am gaining valuable professional experience and my financial well-being improves by the day, so I'm certainly not complaining. :)