Michigan’s State Appellate Defender Office (SADO) is expanding. Join us as an Assistant Appellate Defender in our Lansing office working statewide to represent people on direct appeal of their felony convictions. We are hiring attorneys with varied experienced—both experienced attorneys ready to start as soon as possible and law clerks and current third year law students ready to start around August 2026. The position pays from $79,511 to $149,208, depending on experience. Our office follows a hybrid workplace model that mixes in-office and remote work to offer flexibility and support to staff.
SADO attorneys work in trial courts and appellate courts across the state to achieve tangible results for the people we represent and to improve the system. SADO team members include attorneys, investigators, mitigation specialists, paralegals, reentry specialists, programmers, IT, clerks, and administrative staff. Our over one hundred staff members form a community advocating for the people we represent. At SADO, we focus on our clients as people and actively work to challenge injustices and disparities in the criminal legal system based on race, class, ability, behavioral health, and other identifying characteristics and statuses. We strive to show the courts that each person is more than a case number and is entitled to equitable treatment and justice.
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 February or July 2026 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.
Benefits
State employee benefits are comprehensive and include:
• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance
• 401k plan with up to a 9% employer contribution (partial vesting begins at 2 years)
• 13 paid holidays
• 3 weeks of paid vacation in year one
• Paid sick time and, for eligible employees, paid parental leave
• Long-term disability insurance
• Flexible work hours
• Hybrid work environment (remote/office)
• Casual dress as appropriate
• Paid training opportunities
• Annual pay increases up to the maximum of the pay range with satisfactory performance
SADO employees are members of the UAW Local 2200.
Submit a cover letter stating your interest in the position. Include your resume and a redacted writing sample.
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.
Applications should be emailed to [email protected] and include “Assistant Appellate Defender 2025-13” in the subject line.
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