Employment Opportunities

Hiring of attorney staff occurs throughout the year as openings need to be filled. All persons hired must be admitted to the Rhode Island Bar at the time employment commences, or must be eligible for a limited two-year waiver. Rhode Island has no full reciprocity with any other jurisdiction. The Bar does permit limited reciprocity – a member of the highest Bar of another state may practice with us for a period of up to two years, but s/he must be admitted via examination prior to the expiration of the two-year period. Therefore, to be considered an active candidate, an applicant must either be admitted to the Rhode Island Bar or be a member in good standing of the Bar of another state; occasionally, a candidate will be considered who is not yet registered but intends to sit for the next Bar Examination.

The starting salary for assistant public defenders is approximately $50,000. All staff members are unclassified state employees, subject to the state salary structure, with full benefits. Virtually all new hires are entry level.

Most successful candidates for attorney position have a demonstrated interest in criminal defense, either through previous practice or law school clinical experience. In addition, most successful candidates have a demonstrated commitment to services to indigents.

New hires in the criminal division are generally assigned to the misdemeanor unit regardless of their prior experience. There is no formal period of rotation, however, and criminal trial attorneys are re-assigned to the felony division anywhere from six months to two years following hiring. With the exception of the criminal trial felony and misdemeanor units, there is rarely regular rotation among divisions and attorneys are presumptively hired for a specific vacancy in a particular division.

The Public Defender operates an extensive in-house continuing legal education program (CLE)

Resumes and writing samples should be forwarded to Public Defender John J. Hardiman. If there is no current opening, these materials are kept on file and considered active for one year, during which they will be reviewed for any opening which occurs. Rhode Island residents, students attending law schools in Rhode Island, and those whose resumes show a particular commitment to criminal defense and/or assistance to indigents may be interviewed.

Non-attorney staff are hired as vacancies occur, and all hiring is centralized. Employees for support staff positions (investigators, social workers, interpreters, secretaries and intake staff) are hired on a state-wide basis and are frequently rotated from one office or geographic area of responsibility to another. All resumes should be forwarded to Public Defender John J. Hardiman. If there is no current opening, materials are kept on file and considered active for one year. Most support positions are union.

Current Openings:

No Current Openings