Assistant Appellate Defender

Join Michigan’s State Appellate Defender Office (SADO) as an Assistant Appellate Defender working statewide to represent people on direct appeal of their felony convictions. We welcome applications from experienced attorneys who can start in the near future, as well as law clerks and recent graduates ready to start around September 2027. The position pays from $81,891 to $153,676, depending on experience. Our office follows a hybrid workplace model that mixes in-office and remote work to offer flexibility and support to staff.

Job Responsibilities

Assistant Appellate Defenders represent people on their direct appeals or other post-conviction proceedings. Appeals involve challenges to convictions and sentences following trials and pleas. SADO Assistant Defenders do many different things as part of an appeal, including:

• Travel to Michigan’s prisons and jails to meet clients and to begin working together on appellate strategy
• Read transcripts and lower court records to identify legal issues
• Research legal issues and write appellate pleadings, which could include pleadings in the trial court, Court of Appeals, Supreme Court, and occasionally federal courts
• Present oral argument in the trial and appellate courts, including the Michigan Supreme Court
• In conjunction with investigation team, interview witnesses, investigate and develop new evidence, and conduct evidentiary hearings in the trial courts, including direct and cross examination of witnesses
• In conjunction with mitigation team, mitigate for resentencing hearings in the trial courts
• Negotiate with prosecutors
• Communicate with our clients’ family, friends, and loved ones
• Work together with colleagues on brainstorms, case rounds, and moot arguments, and contribute to an environment of collaboration and collegiality
• Look for ways to creatively and strategically change the law in Michigan to protect the rights of Michiganders in the criminal legal system
• Successfully manage an active and robust caseload with ongoing assignments at regular intervals

Qualifications

Applicants must either be current members of the Michigan Bar, eligible to waive into the bar, or eligible to sit for the July 2027 bar exam. Applicants must have a commitment to indigent defense, public service, and racial equity. Skills in legal research and writing, client communication, and oral advocacy are required. Ability to manage competing deadlines, under time constraints is required.

Writing Sample Special Instructions:  As part of its commitment to diversity in the workplace and its goal to prevent hiring bias, we ask that applicants submit redacted writing samples, which will be reviewed without access to applicant information and scored based on objective criteria.

• Your name, address, work affiliation, and other identifiers should be redacted from your writing sample.
• Files should be named generically, and your name should not be a part of the filename.  For example, you can name the file WS1.pdf or WritingSample.pdf.
• AI Certification – The first page of your writing sample must include a signed coversheet or statement certifying that: 1) you are the primary and original writer of the content within the document and 2) no generative AI tools were used to write or draft the document.

Applications should be emailed to jobs@sado.org and include “Assistant Appellate Defender 2026-10” in the subject line.

SADO is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.  A felony conviction does not prohibit employment at SADO.

If you have questions about this application or are unable to send application materials electronically, please contact Human Resources at 313-420-2942 for assistance.