EMPLOYMENT &
INTERNSHIPS

The New Hampshire Public Defender prioritizes equal opportunity for all employees, interns, and job applicants.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

New Hampshire Public Defender (NHPD) is committed to fighting alongside our clients to ensure that their constitutional rights are protected, that they are treated with dignity, and that they know their defense team is in their corner. NHPD represents the majority of indigent people facing criminal and delinquency prosecution in New Hampshire. We engage in “vertical” representation, meaning that staff attorneys represent clients from the time they are appointed to final disposition in the trial court.

NHPD’s lawyers are creative and zealous litigators and effective negotiators. They strive to obtain excellent outcomes and to ensure that our clients feel supported and informed. NHPD’s defense teams are rounded out by our excellent investigators, paralegals, social services team, and support staff. NHPD fosters a work environment that encourages creativity and teamwork and prides itself on its excellent training and mentorship programs.

NHPD has ten trial offices throughout New Hampshire, as well as an appellate office, and employs over 125 lawyers, more than 30 investigators, and more than 80 support staff across the state.

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PROGRAM BENEFITS

NHPD recognizes the value of supporting all dedicated team members and is proud to provide outstanding employee benefits. The program is dedicated to addressing employees’ diverse needs, offering generous leave policies, exceptional, low-cost health coverage, retirement plans, and opportunities for professional growth in a supportive work environment.

NHPD is a private nonprofit, but its employees are enrolled in the New Hampshire State Health Plan, which provides excellent health coverage at substantial cost savings for employees. Please click the link below for more information on NHPD’s health benefits.

HEALTH BENEFITS
For an overview of our program and employment opportunities, please download our recruitment flyer.
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NHPD IS COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO ALL

NHPD is committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff. NHPD will honor your experience, perspectives, and unique identity. Together our community strives to create and maintain working environment that is inclusive, equitable, and welcoming. NHPD is committed to  keeping diversity equity, and inclusion as a priority of our organization.

STAFF ATTORNEYS

Staff Attorney (Lateral)
New Hampshire Public Defender is seeking experienced trial attorneys to fill several staff attorney vacancies. Applicants must have a commitment to criminal defense and practical experience that demonstrates a high level of skill. Our office is committed to providing the highest quality of representation to all we serve. Applicants must be admitted to the New Hampshire Bar or be eligible for immediate admission by waiver. Full-time and Part-time positions are available. Salary is commensurate with experience and qualifications.

Staff Attorney (New)

New Hampshire Public Defender (NHPD) hires client-centered trial lawyers who are committed to fighting alongside their clients to ensure that their constitutional rights are protected, that they are treated with dignity, and that they know their lawyer is in their corner.

NHPD’s lawyers are creative and zealous litigators and effective negotiators. They strive to obtain excellent outcomes and to ensure that our clients feel supported and informed. NHPD’s investigators, paralegals, social services team, and support staff work alongside our attorneys on behalf of our clients. NHPD represents indigent people — youth and adults — accused of crimes, at all stages of criminal proceedings.

NHPD is hiring now for its August 2027 class of new lawyers. Applicants must be eligible for admission to the New Hampshire bar or prepared to take and pass the New Hampshire Bar Examination by July 2027. Successful candidates will have hands-on practical experience through clinics or internships and a strong academic record. Most importantly, they will be dedicated to public defense and deeply motivated to provide the highest-quality representation to individuals accused of crimes.

NHPD provides extensive training and mentorship to its new lawyer class. New lawyers participate in a 5-week training program, are each assigned a mentor, and receive ongoing training throughout their first year. New lawyers start with smaller caseloads, and throughout their first year their caseloads grow in size and complexity. By the end of their first year, lawyers can expect to have a wide range of cases, including misdemeanors, felonies, and other case types. NHPD’s training, mentorship, and case assignments are designed to ensure that new lawyers have both the support and autonomy they need to become capable, confident trial lawyers.

This position will begin in August of 2027.

View our current legal openings here.

PARALEGALS

Paralegals work collaboratively with the case team to provide support to attorneys. Paralegals assist with case management, litigation planning, and other tasks as requested to ensure NHPD clients continuously receive high-level representation throughout the proceedings. The ideal applicants must have a strong client-centered focus, superior technical skills, and a commitment to indigent criminal defense. Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or a certification from a nationally accredited paralegal training institution; and two years of related experience or any combination of experience/education/training that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the work.

To view our current openings for Paralegal positions, please apply on Indeed. Interested applicants should submit a resume, cover letter, and transcript (unofficial transcripts are accepted).

INVESTIGATORS

Investigators provide essential support for staff attorneys and their clients by interviewing potential witnesses, subpoenaing witnesses, writing reports, obtaining important documents, and collecting information that may help clients in sentencing hearings. The best candidates have a bachelor’s level degree, excellent interpersonal skills, and solid writing ability. The program’s Investigators have diverse backgrounds, but are all deeply dedicated to the representation of their clients.

View our current openings or apply for an Investigator position on Indeed.

SOCIAL SERVICE ADVOCATES

Social Service Advocates work directly with clients facing criminal charges with substance use disorders and/or mental health issues and assist them in accessing appropriate care. Social Service Advocates also work with witnesses and families of clients to prepare social histories to be used in court. Important skills for the position include the ability to communicate effectively, document information accurately, deal effectively and compassionately with a wide variety of individuals, maintain confidentiality, work independently, and manage time effectively.

View our current openings or apply for a Social Service Advocate position on Indeed.

LEGAL ASSISTANTS

The program employs Legal Assistants to provide support to its staff attorneys. Each Legal Assistant works for three to four staff attorneys. Legal Assistants type correspondence and motions, open and close cases, answer phones, calendar court and meeting dates for attorneys, and frequently deal directly with the program’s clients. The best candidates have experience working in a busy law office, excellent interpersonal skills, are comfortable with Word-based programs, and are dedicated to the representation of the program’s clients.

To view our current openings for Legal Assistant positions, please apply on Indeed.

For general inquiries, please submit your materials (resume, cover letter, and transcript) to nhpd-recruiting@nhpd.org.

INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS

Our internship programs aren’t about squeezing work from interns; they’re full immersion experiences in public defense. You’ll interact with clients, observe court proceedings, and learn what it’s like to be a public defender. We offer opportunities to try things before becoming a practicing attorney.

1st YEAR PROGRAM

Law students who have completed their first year of school are welcome to apply for spring, summer and fall internships and externships. While these students are not eligible to appear on the record in court, they are able to have extensive client contact under supervision, work closely with staff attorneys on misdemeanor, youth, and felony cases, and observe court proceedings. First year students often conduct legal research, draft motions, assist with discovery review, and assist staff attorneys in preparing for hearings and trials.

View our current openings on Here.

2nd YEAR SUMMER PROGRAM

New Hampshire Public Defender offers legal internships to law students who have completed their second year of law school. These full-time, ten-week internships usually run from the beginning of June until early to mid-August. These are unpaid positions, but many interns are able to secure grants or outside funding. Students are reimbursed for on the job mileage. All interns must have a driver’s license and insured vehicle.

Legal interns are treated like lawyers rather than “law clerks.” They handle misdemeanor and youth cases under attorney supervision. Interns have extensive client contact. They appear on the record and represent clients at bail hearings, scheduling conferences, review hearings, motion hearings, and trials. In addition, interns may have the opportunity to co-counsel a jury trial. By the end of the summer, interns entering their third year of law school have a firm understanding of what it is like to be a public defender.

Successful applicants for legal internship positions have demonstrated their commitment to indigent criminal defense through volunteer, internship, or clinical experiences during law school. NHPD limits its intern class to ensure that each intern is well-supported and mentored.

In the past few years, NHPD has hired interns from all over the country.

View our current openings on Here.

INVESTIGATOR INTERNSHIP

College students in their junior or senior year, graduate students, and law students who have completed their first year of law school, are welcome to apply for investigator internships.

Investigator interns work closely with staff attorneys and their clients. They interview witnesses, write reports, take photographs, diagram crime scenes, deliver subpoenas to witnesses, and gather records and other documents essential to the defense. In addition, interns assist attorneys in preparing for hearings and trials, and help clients obtain treatment for substance abuse or mental health issues.

Investigator interns can work during the summer, spring or fall. Applications should be received at least two months before the proposed start date. Available positions are either full or part-time. Interns must work at least twenty hours a week for at least ten weeks.

This position is unpaid. Job-related mileage expenses are reimbursed. Interns must be licensed drivers and have an insured vehicle. Every intern must obtain a private investigator’s license through the New Hampshire Department of Safety. NHPD will assist in this process and reimburse the associated fee.

View our current openings on Here.

Equal Opportunity Statement Conditions of Employment

NHPD hires and promotes qualified persons based upon the individual merits and achievements of applicants and employees. All employment decisions, including recruitment, hiring, promotion, training, layoff or recall are made without regard to the race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, familial status or disability status of any applicant or employee. Likewise, NHPD expressly prohibits and will not tolerate unlawful harassment in any form by any employee or agent of the organization, including managers, supervisors, co-workers, clients, delivery personnel, sales representatives, contract workers, and other persons who are on NHPD premises and who come in contact with NHPD employees.