The Panhandle Area Public Defender Office celebrated the swearing-in of new attorneys who are now full-time Public Defenders. Judge Ana Estevez, the 251st District Court Judge and Regional Presiding Judge, and Judge Matt Hand, Potter County Court at Law 2 Judge, conducted the ceremony.
For a person to become licensed as an attorney in the State of Texas, they have to graduate from an accredited law school, pass the bar exam, and pass an investigation into the character and fitness to practice law of the person, and then be sworn in by a judge or magistrate. The PAPD has taken a nationwide recruiting approach to bring in new voices for criminal defense to the Texas Panhandle.
New attorneys are coming to the PAPD office having graduated from law schools around the Texas as well as Oklahoma and Nebraska.
Taylor McNeese, a recent graduate from the University of Tulsa Law School, served as an intern with the PAPD during the summer of 2023. She decided to join the office after her internship experience. McNeese stated, “My internship gave me the opportunity to work with clients, not just as clients, but as people who needed my help. I had never had that experience, and that was what I aspired to do with my legal career. I wanted to come back so badly not only because I knew how much experience and knowledge I would gain from everyone at the office, but because it was the only place I felt would protect and care about clients as much as I always wanted to.”