Friday, September 18, 2009

Capital Appellate Attorney Positions

The Federal Public Defender for the District of Colorado has posted an announcement for experienced appellate attorneys to handle appeals in the Tenth Circuit. Two positions are available.

According to the announcement, the bulk of the caseload would be capital habeas proceedings (primarily section 2254) from the district courts in the Circuit. Appointments in the cases will be made by the Tenth Circuit without prior involvement of the Federal Public Defender Office in the underlying habeas proceedings. It is expected that appointments will be solely for the purposes of appeals before the Tenth Circuit and any subsequent proceedings, if any, before the Supreme Court. Due to the differing rates of capital prosecutions in the states and districts of the Tenth Circuit, it is anticipated that these appeals will arise more often from Oklahoma than from elsewhere in the Circuit. The attorneys will be Assistant Federal Public Defenders officed in Denver, Colorado, and will function as part of the existing Appellate Division.

It is strongly preferred that applicants have significant experience both in appellate representations and in capital habeas matters. Further, with respect to capital habeas experience, section 2254 experience is preferred over section 2255 experience. Other related experience, however, may be considered. Applicants must be team oriented, exhibit strong writing and oral argument skills, and possess a true commitment to criminal defense generally and death penalty defense in particular.

Applicants must be licensed by the highest court of a state, federal territory or the District of Columbia, and be a member in good standing in all courts and jurisdictions where admitted to practice. Applicants are subject to a background security check. Salary is commensurate with experience.

Qualified individuals may apply submitting a letter of interest, a resume, and a representative writing sample by the close of business on September 25, 2009, to Deanne Bader, Financial Administrator, Office of the Federal Public Defender, 633 17th Street, Suite 1000, Denver CO 80202. The FPD is an equal opportunity employer.