What’s Up With the New Job Descriptions?

by Meryl Carver-Allmond, BIDS Training Director

A few weeks ago, I noticed a job posting for a BIDS “Public Defender III” position. I didn’t understand exactly what that meant, so I walked down the hall to our Executive Director, Heather Cessna’s, office, and asked if she could explain it all to me. She gladly did so, and I have recreated our conversation for you all here.

Meryl: So why were all these new levels of public defenders created in the first place?

Heather: Last year’s legislature gave us money that we could only use to create new positions. But we did have the freedom to create those positions at a higher salary and experience level, so we instituted this PD I through PD V system. 

By creating the new positions this way, we can both give more experienced attorneys within BIDS room for advancement while also considering experienced outside candidates who may be interested in joining our public defender offices. Before, a more senior attorney in an office would often have to wait years for a chief or deputy to retire in order to get a promotion. These new gradations create positions that have different duties and expectations and more leadership opportunities in each office, and give attorneys space to apply for higher level positions as they gain experience and skill and as they take on new responsibilities.

Meryl: So every attorney with a certain level of experience is going to be a PD III now?

Heather: Unfortunately, no. At least not yet. While a more aggressive overall pay scale and job description adjustment is our eventual goal, right now we could only create a certain number of these higher level positions based on the limited funding we received last year. The positions were apportioned to each office based on caseload needs across the agency. But if the legislature funds our requested pay scale adjustment this year, these gradations closely track with the pay scale adjustment we are aiming for. So, we are working hard to advocate for that pay scale adjustment in the legislature right now.

Meryl: OK, so PD V means “chief”. PD IV means “deputy”. But what are the big differences between levels I, II, and III?

Heather: Well, first of all, there’s a difference in years of experience and corresponding skills. For example, a PD I can be a fresh law school graduate, but a PD III needs to have about 5 years of experience under their belt.

But it’s also a difference in how you spend your time. A PD I will mostly be working on direct client representation, with maybe just a little time spent attending training or on other duties. A PD II is someone who can work well with much less supervision, and is maybe starting to mentor other attorneys or teach CLE. And a PD III is doing all of that, plus informal leadership, office or agency development tasks, and other duties assigned by their chief.

Meryl: That makes a lot more sense. Thanks for clearing that up, boss.