Budget Cuts Hit Your PD Office? Here's How to Get Rehired Fast

The Current Crisis: What's Happening Across California

Since the summer of 2025, county budget shortfalls across California have created the worst displacement crisis in public defense in over a decade. The pattern is familiar and devastating: counties face revenue declines, boards of supervisors look for places to cut, and public defender offices — already chronically underfunded — take disproportionate hits.

The numbers are stark. An estimated 800+ defense professionals — attorneys, investigators, social workers, paralegals, and support staff — have been displaced since mid-2025. Some were laid off outright. Others saw their contracts not renewed when conflict panels were restructured. Still others left voluntarily when hiring freezes meant their caseloads doubled and working conditions became unsustainable.

But here's what the headlines don't tell you: while some offices are cutting, others are desperately hiring. The demand for experienced defense professionals hasn't decreased — it's shifted geographically and structurally. And that creates an opportunity for displaced defenders who move quickly.

Which Offices Are Still Hiring Despite the Crisis

While county-funded offices are bearing the brunt of the cuts, several categories of defense employers are actively recruiting — and many are prioritizing displaced defenders who can start immediately:

• •State-funded offices — Offices funded through state indigent defense allocations (as opposed to county general funds) are more insulated from local budget cycles. Several state-funded defense offices have posted new positions in 2026.
• •Nonprofit defense organizations — Organizations like legal aid societies, innocence projects, and civil rights defense organizations that receive grant funding operate on different budget timelines. Many are actively hiring.
• •Federal defender offices — Federal public defenders are funded through the federal judiciary, completely separate from county budgets. FPD offices often have openings for experienced attorneys, especially those with trial experience.
• •Counties with growing populations — Some California counties, particularly in the Inland Empire and parts of the Central Valley, are actually expanding their PD offices to keep pace with population growth and caseload increases.
• •Conflict panel expansions — As some counties cut in-house staff, they're expanding conflict panel contracts to handle the overflow. If you're comfortable with contract defense work, there are opportunities.

The Fast-Track Program: 48-Hour Matching for Displaced Defenders

We built the Fast-Track program specifically for this moment. When experienced defense professionals are displaced through no fault of their own, the last thing they should have to do is spend months applying to jobs through generic legal job boards that don't understand defense work.

Here's how Fast-Track works:

How to Update Your Resume for Displacement (It's Not Your Fault)

Let's be clear about something: being laid off because your county cut the PD office budget is not a reflection of your abilities, your work ethic, or your value as a defense professional. Budget cuts are systemic failures, not personal ones. But the way you frame the transition on your resume matters.

Here's how to handle it:

Transferable Skills Between PD Offices

One concern displaced defenders often have is whether their experience will transfer to a different office. The good news: the core skills of public defense are universal across jurisdictions. Courtroom advocacy, client communication, case investigation, plea negotiation, motion practice, and trial skills are the same whether you're in Los Angeles County or Humboldt County.

That said, there are some areas where you'll need to adapt:

• •Local court customs — Every courthouse has its own culture: how judges run their calendars, plea bargaining norms, filing procedures, and courtroom etiquette. Plan for a 2-4 week adjustment period.
• •DA office practices — Prosecution charging practices, plea offer policies, and diversion program availability vary significantly between counties. You'll learn these quickly once you start.
• •Office structure — Some PD offices use a vertical representation model (one attorney handles a case from arraignment through disposition), while others use horizontal models (different attorneys for different stages). Both skills are transferable.

Navigating Different Case Management Systems

A common worry when switching offices is learning a new case management system. If you used Legal Server at your previous office and the new office runs LegalEdge, you might feel like you're starting from scratch. You're not.

All defense CMS platforms share the same core functions: case tracking, client records, court date calendaring, conflict checking, and reporting. The interfaces differ, but the underlying logic is the same. Here's how to accelerate your CMS transition:

Networking in the Defense Community

The criminal defense community in California is smaller and more interconnected than most people realize. The attorney who trained you might now be a supervisor at another office. The opposing counsel you respected in court might know of openings at their county's conflict panel. Your law school classmate who went to a different PD office might be able to refer you internally.

Here's how to activate your network during displacement:

• •Reach out to former colleagues and supervisors — Let them know you're looking. Many defense positions are filled through internal referrals before they're ever posted publicly.
• •Contact your local CPDA chapter — The California Public Defenders Association maintains connections across every PD office in the state. Chapter leaders often know about upcoming openings before they're posted.
• •Attend NLADA and defense bar events — Even if you're between positions, attending CLE programs and defense bar events keeps you visible and connected.
• •Don't be shy about your situation — Everyone in the defense community understands budget cuts. Nobody will judge you for being displaced. Most will actively try to help.

Union Protections and Severance: Know Your Rights

If you're a union member — and most county PD office attorneys are — you have important rights when facing layoffs. Here are the key things to know:

The Emotional Reality of Being Displaced

Let's talk about something the career advice articles usually skip: being laid off from a job you love is painful. Public defense isn't just a job — it's an identity. You chose this work because you believe in the mission. Your clients depended on you. Your colleagues were your community. Losing that through no fault of your own can feel like a betrayal by the system you served.

It's okay to feel angry. It's okay to grieve. It's okay to take a few days before you start the job search. But know this: the defense community needs you. Your experience, your training, your commitment to the Sixth Amendment — these things are in desperately short supply. The clients who will come through the door at your next office need you just as much as the clients you left behind.

This Is a Setback, Not a Dead End

The funding crisis is real, and it's causing real harm — to defense professionals and to the clients who lose continuity of representation when their attorney is laid off. But the structural demand for public defenders in California has never been higher. Caseloads are growing. Offices are understaffed. The attorneys who stay in the fight — even when the system makes it hard — are the ones who will shape the future of public defense.

You have skills that took years to build. You have trial experience that can't be taught in a classroom. You have the relationships, the courtroom instincts, and the commitment to the mission that every PD office in the state needs. The right office is looking for someone exactly like you, right now.

Move quickly. Update your resume. Activate Fast-Track. And get back to doing the work that matters.