Public defenders across the U.S. are overworked and underfunded, often handling thousands of cases annually while managing clients' nonlegal crises like housing, addiction, and employment. Partners for Justice, founded in 2018 by former Bronx Defenders attorney Emily Galvin-Almanza and Rebecca Solow, addresses this gap through a "Teach for America" model. The nonprofit recruits recent graduates as "client advocates" for two-year placements in public defender offices. These advocates handle urgent but ordinary needs — securing shelter beds, transportation to court, clearing records, and writing mitigation reports — allowing lawyers to focus on legal strategy.

Peter Brown, a client advocate in Delaware County, Pa., was drawn to the work after a wrongful arrest in Florida left him feeling powerless. The Delaware County Public Defenders Office in Media, Pa. handles roughly 8,000 criminal cases a year. Partners for Justice now operates in 44 public defender agencies nationwide.

The approach builds on "holistic defense" pioneered by the Bronx Defenders in the 1990s, which a major study found reduced incarceration by nearly 1.1 million days over a decade without harming public safety. Partners for Justice offers a stripped-down, scalable version called "collaborative defense," using generalist advocates rather than specialized in-house teams, making holistic support accessible to under-resourced jurisdictions.