Trial by Fire: Teaching Fearless Defense Advocacy and Trial Skills to New Public Defenders.
Introduction
Public defenders stand on the front lines of the criminal legal system, often as the last safeguard against injustice for society’s most vulnerable. For new defenders, the courtroom is both a battleground and a classroom—demanding mastery of trial strategy, client advocacy, and systemic navigation. How we teach these skills is not just a question of pedagogy—it’s a matter of justice.
Effective trial advocacy training for new public defenders must go beyond rote rules and theoretical frameworks. It must prepare them to be nimble, strategic, and client-centered in real, high-stakes environments. The right training can be the difference between an ineffective lawyer and a powerful, fearless advocate.
1. Teaching Fundamentals with Purpose
Trial work begins with foundational skills—but they must be taught with intentionality and relevance to public defense:
Case Theory is a Necessity: New defenders must learn how to build a persuasive case theory early and use it to guide every trial decision, from voir dire to closing. The theory isn’t a luxury—it’s the scaffolding of the defense.
Voir Dire that Unearths Bias: Public defenders must quickly develop skills to identify juror bias—racial, socioeconomic, or experiential. Effective training means helping them ask courageous, open-ended questions that uncover the truth behind “I can be fair.”
Cross-Examination as a Skill: Teaching cross-examination should focus on flexibility and control, not theatrics. Public defenders must be able to cross everyone from experts to eyewitnesses, often without the benefit of prior statements or discovery.
Storytelling in Opening and Closing: These moments are more than summaries—they are chances to introduce our clients, challenge assumptions, and anchor the jury in a narrative of innocence. New defenders should be taught to use language that connects, not just impresses.
Evidence and Objections with Confidence: Learning to use the rules of evidence not just to react but to shape the trial is essential. New attorneys need repeated opportunities to practice objections in fast-paced simulations, with real-time critique.
2. Simulate the Real Thing
Young lawyers should not practice their skills for the first time in the courtroom. Simulated trial exercises must mirror the chaos and pressure of real courtrooms:
High-Pressure Courtroom Drills: Replicate courtroom dynamics with unpredictable witness behavior, time constraints, and evidentiary curveballs. Pressure leads to confidence.
Video Feedback and Peer Review: Watching one’s own performance is among the most effective tools for growth. Combined with constructive feedback from experienced litigators, it creates rapid improvement in style, delivery, and persuasion.
Progressive Repetition: Skills like cross, opening, and impeachment should be practiced not once but over time—evolving in complexity and context. Mastery comes through layers, not lectures.
3. Build the Advocate, Not Just the Technician
New public defenders face more than legal challenges—they face moral, emotional, and cultural ones as well. Effective training incorporates:
Mentorship with Substance: Matching new attorneys with experienced mentors creates space for honest conversations about doubt, strategy, ethics, and burnout. Mentorship should not be optional—it should be institutional.
Client-Centered Training: Advocacy begins with listening. New defenders must learn to see their clients as full people, not just charges on a docket. Training should include strategies for building trust, especially across cultural, linguistic, and experiential divides.
Trauma-Informed Advocacy: Teaching defenders how trauma affects clients, witnesses, and even themselves is essential. Trial tactics should never be divorced from humanity.
4. Cultivating a Culture of Excellence and Purpose
The best trial training programs don’t just teach how to win—they instill a sense of mission. Public defenders are often the only voice standing between the state and an individual’s liberty. Their training must reflect that gravity.
This means:
Centering racial and systemic justice
Normalizing ongoing learning through CLEs and litigation workshops
Encouraging bold, principled lawyering—even in hostile courtrooms
Conclusion
Training new public defenders in trial tactics and advocacy is more than skill development—it’s an investment in the integrity of the justice system. These defenders carry not only the weight of their caseloads but the hopes of those who often have no one else to speak for them.
By providing rigorous, realistic, and values-driven advocacy training, we can empower new defenders to enter the courtroom with confidence, clarity, and conviction.
Their success is not just their own—it’s a victory for justice itself.
About the Author:
Kassius Benson is a a former Chief Public Defender for Hennepin County, Minneapolis, MN where he developed and instituted a revolutionary, comprehensive training and development program for public defenders. His training program has been used in several other public defender offices in the nation. Kassius is also a former public defender in the adult trial divisions of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and the Hennepin County Public Defender’s Office in Minneapolis, MN. Kassius continues to teach courtroom advocacy and mentor young attorneys entering public service.