Holistic Advocacy and Representation: How to be an Abolitionist Public Defender

Join OPIA for a community discussion with Wasserstein Fellow Robyn Mar, Deputy Executive Director at The Bronx Defenders. Robyn will talk about the joys and challenges of direct services work, as well as how representing individual people ensnared in oppressive legal systems can support efforts to achieve broader systemic transformation and abolition. Robyn will answer your questions about working as a public defender, using law school experiences to help you find a fulfilling legal career, and making public interest work sustainable.

Robyn Mar is the Deputy Director/Chief Practice Officer at The Bronx Defenders. In that capacity, Robyn oversees the office’s direct service practice areas, including criminal defense, family defense, immigration, social work, and advocacy in housing, employment, and other civil matters. Before becoming Chief Practice Officer, Robyn served in a variety of roles in the Criminal Defense Practice, including as a staff attorney, practice supervisor, Director of Early Advocacy, Deputy Managing Director and interdisciplinary Training Team Leader. Robyn graduated from New York University School of Law and Columbia University. At NYU, Robyn participated in the Juvenile Defender Clinic, representing children accused of crimes in the Bronx, and the Capital Defender Clinic; served as an Executive Editor of the Review of Law & Social Change; and was a teaching assistant for the late Professor Derrick Bell.

Lunch provided. Please RSVP below!

If you or an event participant requires disability-related accommodations, please contact HLS Accessibility Services at accessibility@law.harvard.edu two weeks in advance of the event.