Legal Director

We are an equal opportunity organization. We welcome qualified applicants of all races, physical abilities, ethnicities, genders, gender identities or expressions, national origins, sexual orientations, creeds, religions, and ages. We also welcome qualified applicants who are pregnant, have veteran status, have a history of union membership or activism, and who have been previously incarcerated or system involved.

About us

Texas Defender Service (TDS) is seeking a Legal Director to lead our Legal Team and ensure the highest-quality advocacy for people facing extreme sentences in Texas. TDS provides both direct representation and consultation to trial and post-conviction defense teams statewide.

The salary for this position is up to $130,000, depending on experience. Texas Defender Service offers an excellent, fully employer-paid benefits package and a deep commitment to work-life balance. We offer a generous vacation policy and extensive holidays, including a two-week winter break. This position reports to the Executive Director. The location of this opportunity is Austin, Texas.

Our Mission

At Texas Defender Service, we fight to end mass incarceration and excessive punishment in Texas through direct representation, policy reform, and public education. We champion the dignity and humanity of people harmed by mass incarceration, and advocate for a reimagined legal system that is just, humane, and free from racism and cruelty.

History

Texas Defender Service is dedicated to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in Texas through direct representation, policy reform, and public education. For over a quarter century, we have fought for justice for the most disadvantaged people impacted by Texas’s criminal-legal system.

Since 2018 alone, Texas Defender Service has saved 58 lives from execution or a death sentence. We have given voice to the humanity of our clients, their families, and their communities, and led transformative policy initiatives for people facing serious sentences. TDS has helped to create a statewide public defender office to represent capital defendants in their state habeas proceedings and to pass a law, among the first of its kind, to permit new trials for defendants whose convictions were premised on junk science. Texas Defender Service has argued and won five cases before the United States Supreme Court and achieved countless victories for clients who faced serious punishments because of their mental illness, intellectual disability, or race.

Today, TDS represents people sentenced to mandatory life without parole as children, advocates for second chances for people seeking to return home on parole so they can be reunited with their communities, and champions the cases of people who are innocent and were wrongfully convicted. TDS leads important research and policy-reform efforts that expose the fundamental need to build a more humane, evidence-based legal system, including reports on Texas's disturbing shortcomings in freeing the innocent and racial bias in Harris County's use of the death penalty. In 2024, we launched our pro bono program to match deserving candidates seeking parole with pro bono attorneys to advocate for their return to their communities and families.

Our legal advocacy and research have been frequently profiled in the New York Times, the Texas Tribune, the Houston Chronicle, the Houston Landing, Texas Monthly, the Associated Press, People magazine, and many other publications.

Position Overview

Texas Defender Service (TDS) seeks a Legal Director to lead and manage our Litigation Unit and ensure the highest-quality legal advocacy for people facing extreme sentences in Texas, including the death penalty. This is a senior leadership role that oversees legal strategy, staff supervision, and docket management. The Legal Director collaborates closely with TDS’s Special Projects Director to align litigation priorities with broader organizational initiatives, support cross-team strategy, and advance TDS’s statewide impact. The Legal Director also partners with the Executive Director on major organizational issues, including organizational strategy and daily management. A major focus of this role is strengthening and expanding TDS’s trial consulting model for capital cases, including developing systems and standards for consultation, identifying and cultivating new opportunities, and providing strategic support to defense teams statewide.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee TDS’s direct representation and consulting matters; ensure excellent, client-centered, and culturally competent advocacy
• Actively participate in trial-level hearings and post-conviction proceedings, including appearing in court as needed to support litigation strategy and case development
• Supervise and mentor attorneys; support recruitment, onboarding, and staff development
• Coordinate with the Special Projects Director to support litigation-adjacent initiatives, cross-team workflows, and strategic organizational priorities
• Manage intake, caseload distribution, and the legal docket
• Drive progress toward annual billable goals and oversee legal unit budgeting
• Serve as a spokesperson and partner to the broader defense community in Texas
• Testify at the state legislature about major matters concerning capital or criminal defense

High Priority: Build and Strengthen TDS’s Trial Consulting Model

TDS is working to expand and formalize its trial consulting model as a core area of impact. The Legal Director will play a lead role in this work, including:

• Identifying and cultivating new trial consulting opportunities statewide, with a focus on growing a sustainable, revenue-generating consulting model
• Developing systems for consultation intake, case assessment, prioritization, and staffing
• Establishing clear standards and workflows for high-quality trial consultation
• Supporting trial teams through strategic guidance, collaboration, and resource coordination

Qualifications

• 7+ years experience in criminal defense
• Significant courtroom experience, including evidentiary hearings and/or capital trial experience
• Strong people-management and leadership skills
• Excellent legal writing, strategy, and advocacy skills
• Demonstrated commitment to client-centered representation, understanding of structural racism, and cultural humility and equity in legal advocacy, with a preference for candidates who are Spanish-speaking

How to Apply

Please submit a resume, list of three references, and brief cover letter explaining your interest in the position and in Texas Defender Service’s mission.

Texas Defender Service offers an excellent, fully employer-paid benefits package and a deep commitment to work-life balance. We offer a generous vacation policy and extensive holidays, including a two-week winter break. This position reports to the Executive Director. The location of this opportunity is Austin, Texas.

Spanish speakers highly preferred but not required.