Lead Attorney & Unit Chief, Capital Litigation Unit

Scope of Work

The Office of the State Appellate Public Defender seeks an experienced capital defense attorney to join its Capital Litigation Unit in either a Lead Counsel or a Lead Counsel/Unit Chief role. The precise position will depend on the applicant’s skills, experience, and interests. The SAPD’s Capital Litigation Unit (CLU) represents indigent clients who have been sentenced to death. The CLU handles both post-conviction proceedings in the trial court and appeals before the Idaho Supreme Court. Regardless of the role filled, the successful applicant will provide zealous representation to indigent defendants who have been sentenced to death. The SAPD seeks a highly skilled, experienced capital attorney who is deeply committed to being part of a client-centered defense team, who will advocate with integrity on behalf of death-sentenced clients, and who will fight tenaciously for clients’ Constitutional and statutory rights.

Lead Counsel Responsibilities

Lead Counsel in the Capital Litigation Unit oversees team representation of capital clients. Each team is composed of a lead attorney, at least one deputy attorney, a fact investigator, and a mitigation specialist. The team represents indigent capital clients throughout the post-conviction proceedings in district court. If post-conviction proceedings are unsuccessful, the team represents the client in a unified direct/post-conviction appeal. Primary responsibilities for the Lead Counsel position include, but are not limited to:

• Developing and maintaining healthy, productive client relationships characterized by mutual trust and good communication.
• Directing and overseeing the substantive and procedural aspects of each case.
• Directing the course of the mitigation and fact investigations in each case.
• Working collaboratively with other team members to develop cohesive post-conviction strategies.
• Leading efforts to identify and draft post-conviction claims.
• Leading efforts to identify and draft appellate claims.
• Identifying and vetting expert and lay witnesses.
• Conducting evidentiary hearings in the trial courts and presenting oral arguments in the Idaho Supreme Court.
• Maintaining the team’s focus on the best interests of clients and ensuring the team’s ongoing loyalty to former clients by facilitating the work of any successor counsel.
• Supervising and mentoring other team members.
• Traveling to courts, correctional institutions, and other locations within and outside the State of Idaho to attend court hearings and/or oral arguments, visit incarcerated clients, and conduct investigations.

Unit Chief Responsibilities

Unit Chief in the Capital Litigation Unit oversees the CLU as a whole. When fully staffed, the CLU consists of two lead attorneys, two deputy attorneys, one investigator, one mitigation specialist, and one administrative assistant. The Unit Chief will have primary responsibility for ensuring the smooth operation and continued improvement of the entire CLU. In addition to fulfilling all the responsibilities of a Lead Attorney, the Unit Chief will also have the following responsibilities:

• Making staffing decisions for capital cases.
• Monitoring and, if needed, adjusting, attorney and staff workloads to ensure tasks are completed in a timely and professional manner without employees becoming overloaded.
• Leading efforts to hire and train new CLU staff.
• Mentoring and supervising all CLU staff.
• Effectively managing any personnel issues that may arise within the CLU.
• Crafting cost estimates for expert witnesses, investigations, and litigation support services, and working with the SAPD Director to make sound financial decisions that allow the CLU to advocate for its clients in a cost-effective manner.
• Advising and assisting the SAPD Director on agency-wide issues.