An excellent learning opportunity from Ed Ungvarsky ’90:

The Northern Virginia Capital Defender Office represents men and woman who are charged with capital murder and are facing the possibility of the death penalty. Together, a team of lawyers, mitigation specialists, fact investigators, mental health professionals, and other experts expends its best efforts to secure our clients the best possible outcome of their cases and, minimally, to avoid a death sentence.

We are in court frequently and raise many creative legal challenges to the proceedings. We also investigate as fully and broadly as possible. We investigate both the guilt-innocence phase of the trial as well as the penalty phase, looking for reasons that our clients’ lives should be spared. The investigations take place all over Virginia, other states, and internationally.

The work of the full-time members of the defense team is supported by volunteer lawyers, law students, graduate students in forensic psychology and social work, and (sometimes) undergraduate students.

This winter, we are looking for a current student who is interested in externing with us for a week or two in January.

Full details can be found on Career Drive.