Public Defender, Paid Research Study

Role Overview

Share firsthand insight into the work of representing indigent clients as a current or former public defender in the United States. This remote study focuses on the responsibilities and tasks you personally performed, rather than an idealized job description.

Key Responsibilities

• Complete an initial survey describing your primary responsibilities, individual tasks, smaller work components, and task dependencies, including when one task requires output from another.
• Describe different versions of a task when relevant.
• Use the provided written guidance and coordinator support to complete the survey.
• Selected participants may be invited to review a combined task tree and provide additional detail in a later survey.

Qualifications

• Current or former public defender with hands-on experience representing indigent clients in the United States.
• Ability to explain the work you personally performed, along with the jurisdiction and period of your practice.
• If your experience was in court-appointed or contract public defense, explain that arrangement for fit review.

Experience solely as a prosecutor, law student, legal-content annotator, or attorney without public-defense experience does not qualify for this study.

Work Terms

• Remote, hourly research participation.
• The initial survey requires no outside research or real work product.
• Use your own professional experience, not AI-generated responses.
• Do not provide client names, case numbers, identifying facts, confidential information, privileged material, or documents from real cases.
• A later survey, if offered, will have its scope and compensation confirmed before participation begins.

Compensation

• The initial survey pays $100 per hour of reviewed survey time, for up to 90 minutes and a maximum payment of $150.
• Contact the study coordinator before continuing if you need more time than the 90-minute cap.

Application Process

Submit a resume plus a short description of your public-defense experience and availability. Applications are reviewed before personal survey links are sent. Applying does not automatically enroll you or begin paid survey time.