Very few public defenders leave for private practice, and fewer still start their own. We asked one what the transition was actually like.
What transferred straight across?
Volume tolerance. I had carried caseloads that would horrify most private practitioners, and it meant nothing about a busy week frightened me.
Also the courthouses. I knew every clerk, every calendar quirk, which department ran late. That knowledge is worth more than people outside the system realise.
What did not transfer?
Everything commercial. I had never quoted a fee in my life. The first six months I underpriced almost every matter because I had no reference point at all.
And I had to learn to say no. In the PD's office the caseload arrives; you do not choose it. Choosing is a skill nobody taught me.
Is the work different?
The law is identical. The relationship is not. Clients who are paying ask more questions and expect more contact, and that is reasonable — but the volume of communication was a genuine adjustment.
What has not changed is that most cases resolve, and that the work is mostly preparation nobody sees.
Would you recommend the move?
To some people. If you are leaving because of the caseload, private practice is not obviously an improvement — you just own the problem. If you are leaving because you want to choose the work, then yes.
I had never quoted a fee in my life. The first six months I underpriced almost every matter because I had no reference point.Founding partner, four-attorney defense practice, Downtown LA
What we took away
- Courthouse-level operational knowledge was described as the most valuable asset carried over.
- Pricing was the largest gap; underpricing in the first six months was described as near-total.
- Client communication volume rises sharply when clients are paying.
- The interviewee cautioned that private practice does not solve a caseload problem — it relocates ownership of it.
Method
This piece is an editorial composite illustrating a career path — public defender to founding partner — that recurs in accounts from LA County criminal defense practitioners. It is not a transcript of one named attorney's interview.