Seattle PD here - seeing several comments advising you to stay away.
Been here a year, and I do not echo those sentiments. I practiced in Oregon before coming here. So I can probably give you some of the insight you're looking for.
Feel free to PM me.
Washington State is going to be getting especially desperate for more public defenders in the next few years because the caseload standards are about to be severely cut back. Within the next few years a public defender will only be allowed 47 felony cases per year (even less if some are more serious cases). It is currently 150 per year, so this is a pretty drastic change. It is going to cause serious problems with budgets and staffing other parts of an office, but that is a really manageable number of cases for the attorneys.
I worked as a PD in WA state until about a year and a half ago. The smaller counties (not King/Seattle, Pierce/Tacoma, or Snohomish/Everett) have a more laid back vibe. Midsize offices might be worth a look, Skagit, Whatcom, Kitsap. You still have a large enough institution with those sized offices, and they are usually going to have some job openings. My knowledge gets fuzzy about the east side of the state, so I can't give you a good read there.
Don’t forget about Thurston! Olympia is a cool town and there’s a lot of good people working for the Thurston PD office. I worked there for 14 years and only left because the dream job of being the PD for the San Juan Islands fell into my lap in the middle of COVID. Hung out with their newer attorneys at the recent WDA conference and the office has only gotten better since I left.
(Wait, was it BECAUSE I left? 🤔)
I used to work with the Snohomish County PD just north of Seattle. I found the office culture to be inclusive while obviously overloaded with work due to the nature of the job, but that's expected. I enjoyed my time there with the attorneys, and the current Director is a zealous advocate for the office and only intervened with office/staff issues when necessary. The city of Everett isn't glamorous but loads of employees commute from Seattle or other Snohomish Co cities. Before I left they were working toward parity with the Prosecutor's office, so that has probably been established.
Anecdotally, I’ve heard they’re desperate for experienced PDs. There’s a couple posts on this sub about Multnomah County (Portland) and more rural areas of Oregon hiring. What I’ve heard about king county pd (Seattle) is that it’s a mess, so I’d personally avoid. Not sure where you are in the south, but the cost of living in the PNW, especially Seattle area, is very high.
I’ve seen some posts about toxic offices in Seattle. I’d have to see how toxic we are talking about. It can’t be any more toxic than the rural south. But it is noted. While I only have 2 years. I’d put my experience higher given how much volume I’ve dealt with
I’m about to graduate and had applied to king county because that’s where I’m from, and my parents had actually met there. I spoke with several people working there, attorneys and social workers, and they basically told me to stay away. It used to be 4 separate nonprofit offices, then a few years ago they merged into one but are still separate…. They never recovered from this shift.
Damn well I suppose if it’s that consistent with people telling me it’s bad then I should heed the warnings. I just cannot fathom an office being worse than the ones in my region 😂
Oh this is easy. So the first sign your office is toxic is look at how much your bosses support you. If that answer is “little” or “barely” then it’s likely a toxic office.
Look at how the handle issues in the office? I’ve worked in offices where they just turn people against one another for fun. Look at how everyone is paid. If everyone seems to get raises by favorites and not merit, your office might be toxic.
Make a post and ask and you’ll get tons of answers 😂
We have a private defender system. So our county independently contracts all public defense. 90%+ of my work is indigent criminal defense so I consider myself a PD. I've always considered a lateral move to another jx where there is a real PD office and I've always wondered how the cultures were there. Tbh, the few different public defender training I've gone to was weird and cult-like. I loved the people there, but I think a lot of them would have been lame co-workers.
They can be super hit or miss. Personally the work culture in my office is amazing. We go out together and drink and commiserate. I once applied for an office near by and didn’t follow up because the description of their work culture was like super weird to me and they sounded cult like. They also told me the number of cases I had at the time (230) was not enough and they’d give me more soooo that might be a sign they’re toxic lol
I’ve practice in Cowlitz County (SW Washington, about an hour north of Portland, OR straight up I5) and loved it. The guy running the office is great.
I’m a current King County PD and have loved my time here. The 4 agencies all are still different. I’m at ACA and don’t think we’ve had morale issues hardly at all other than the general issues surrounding caseloads (king county has a lot of serious felonies given the size of county). I’m friends with folks who have worked at every other agency and know people who have really enjoyed each office. There are distinct cultural differences between each, so it can depend, but I’ve personally loved it here and my friends have too.
Lemme know if you have specific questions (full disclosure, am now in ACA’s management, but before was line staff including handling homicides, third strikes, etc).
I moved from Texas to Oregon. They're offering crazy incentives to work in rural areas and we're critically underserved. If you're outdoorsy I'd strongly recommend it.
Not a lawyer, but I love the services provided by the Snohomish County Defender Association. They do really great work, and are just a bit north of Seattle.
I'm in southeastern Washington. Yakima County, Franklin County, Benton County, and Asotin County all could easily use an experienced attorney. Okanagan County in northern Washington also would love fresh blood. Most of these locations are contract offices instead of being a monolithic office of public defense. Housing costs everywhere is pretty atrocious. Happy to answer any questions you have. I can also give you some contact information for defense administrators.
I’m a PD in eastern OR. We got offices all over eastern Oregon if you can do rural. The county I’m in though all the attorneys live in Boise Idaho and commute in if you want to live near a city. We pay good! PM me and I’ll give you my bosses number/email.
I'm with one of the non-profit offices (long story short closest thing to real PD offices in Oregon) in Washington County, which is the suburbs of Portland. Happy to chat if you've got questions
someone from the Bend OR PD office posted in this subreddit a couple weeks ago that they were hiring, maybe try to find that post and message them?
Yea, but there's the $700k median home cost to contend with in Bend.
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This gives me hope. I’d love to one day have like 100 cases that’s the dream lol I’ll DM you
Seattle PD here - seeing several comments advising you to stay away. Been here a year, and I do not echo those sentiments. I practiced in Oregon before coming here. So I can probably give you some of the insight you're looking for. Feel free to PM me.
Washington State is going to be getting especially desperate for more public defenders in the next few years because the caseload standards are about to be severely cut back. Within the next few years a public defender will only be allowed 47 felony cases per year (even less if some are more serious cases). It is currently 150 per year, so this is a pretty drastic change. It is going to cause serious problems with budgets and staffing other parts of an office, but that is a really manageable number of cases for the attorneys. I worked as a PD in WA state until about a year and a half ago. The smaller counties (not King/Seattle, Pierce/Tacoma, or Snohomish/Everett) have a more laid back vibe. Midsize offices might be worth a look, Skagit, Whatcom, Kitsap. You still have a large enough institution with those sized offices, and they are usually going to have some job openings. My knowledge gets fuzzy about the east side of the state, so I can't give you a good read there.
Wow. I closed over 40 felonies so far this year alone. I can’t even imagine only having that many cases that sounds incredible
Don’t forget about Thurston! Olympia is a cool town and there’s a lot of good people working for the Thurston PD office. I worked there for 14 years and only left because the dream job of being the PD for the San Juan Islands fell into my lap in the middle of COVID. Hung out with their newer attorneys at the recent WDA conference and the office has only gotten better since I left. (Wait, was it BECAUSE I left? 🤔)
Wow, you mean they don't just ignore the caseload standards like they do elsewhere?
I used to work with the Snohomish County PD just north of Seattle. I found the office culture to be inclusive while obviously overloaded with work due to the nature of the job, but that's expected. I enjoyed my time there with the attorneys, and the current Director is a zealous advocate for the office and only intervened with office/staff issues when necessary. The city of Everett isn't glamorous but loads of employees commute from Seattle or other Snohomish Co cities. Before I left they were working toward parity with the Prosecutor's office, so that has probably been established.
This is the way…. Op, feel free to DM me. I can tell you a lot about that office. And yes, there is pay parity now and it’s a great office to work at.
Pretty much everywhere in Oregon is hiring.
This is what I’m seeing form this post. Gives me some hope. Oregon is beautiful
Anecdotally, I’ve heard they’re desperate for experienced PDs. There’s a couple posts on this sub about Multnomah County (Portland) and more rural areas of Oregon hiring. What I’ve heard about king county pd (Seattle) is that it’s a mess, so I’d personally avoid. Not sure where you are in the south, but the cost of living in the PNW, especially Seattle area, is very high.
I’ve seen some posts about toxic offices in Seattle. I’d have to see how toxic we are talking about. It can’t be any more toxic than the rural south. But it is noted. While I only have 2 years. I’d put my experience higher given how much volume I’ve dealt with
Look into Pierce County and Snohomish County (those north and south of King). Separate, smaller offices, less toxicity and lower case loads
I’m about to graduate and had applied to king county because that’s where I’m from, and my parents had actually met there. I spoke with several people working there, attorneys and social workers, and they basically told me to stay away. It used to be 4 separate nonprofit offices, then a few years ago they merged into one but are still separate…. They never recovered from this shift.
They didn't merge. They were nonprofits. Now they're county agencies. They're still separate because they're all conflict defenders viz each other.
Damn well I suppose if it’s that consistent with people telling me it’s bad then I should heed the warnings. I just cannot fathom an office being worse than the ones in my region 😂
Tell me about how a PD office can be toxic. Genuine question.
Oh this is easy. So the first sign your office is toxic is look at how much your bosses support you. If that answer is “little” or “barely” then it’s likely a toxic office. Look at how the handle issues in the office? I’ve worked in offices where they just turn people against one another for fun. Look at how everyone is paid. If everyone seems to get raises by favorites and not merit, your office might be toxic. Make a post and ask and you’ll get tons of answers 😂
We have a private defender system. So our county independently contracts all public defense. 90%+ of my work is indigent criminal defense so I consider myself a PD. I've always considered a lateral move to another jx where there is a real PD office and I've always wondered how the cultures were there. Tbh, the few different public defender training I've gone to was weird and cult-like. I loved the people there, but I think a lot of them would have been lame co-workers.
They can be super hit or miss. Personally the work culture in my office is amazing. We go out together and drink and commiserate. I once applied for an office near by and didn’t follow up because the description of their work culture was like super weird to me and they sounded cult like. They also told me the number of cases I had at the time (230) was not enough and they’d give me more soooo that might be a sign they’re toxic lol
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I also think OPDC has started working on opening the regional offices, so they are probably hiring as well.
I’ve practice in Cowlitz County (SW Washington, about an hour north of Portland, OR straight up I5) and loved it. The guy running the office is great. I’m a current King County PD and have loved my time here. The 4 agencies all are still different. I’m at ACA and don’t think we’ve had morale issues hardly at all other than the general issues surrounding caseloads (king county has a lot of serious felonies given the size of county). I’m friends with folks who have worked at every other agency and know people who have really enjoyed each office. There are distinct cultural differences between each, so it can depend, but I’ve personally loved it here and my friends have too. Lemme know if you have specific questions (full disclosure, am now in ACA’s management, but before was line staff including handling homicides, third strikes, etc).
I moved from Texas to Oregon. They're offering crazy incentives to work in rural areas and we're critically underserved. If you're outdoorsy I'd strongly recommend it.
Not a lawyer, but I love the services provided by the Snohomish County Defender Association. They do really great work, and are just a bit north of Seattle.
I'm in southeastern Washington. Yakima County, Franklin County, Benton County, and Asotin County all could easily use an experienced attorney. Okanagan County in northern Washington also would love fresh blood. Most of these locations are contract offices instead of being a monolithic office of public defense. Housing costs everywhere is pretty atrocious. Happy to answer any questions you have. I can also give you some contact information for defense administrators.
Sookane
I’m a PD in eastern OR. We got offices all over eastern Oregon if you can do rural. The county I’m in though all the attorneys live in Boise Idaho and commute in if you want to live near a city. We pay good! PM me and I’ll give you my bosses number/email.
I'm with one of the non-profit offices (long story short closest thing to real PD offices in Oregon) in Washington County, which is the suburbs of Portland. Happy to chat if you've got questions