Andrea Michele Marsh
- Lecturer
- Director - Richard & Ginni Mithoff Pro Bono Program
Faculty Profile: Andrea Michele Marsh
Main Profile Content
Featured Work
Judicial Responsibility for Justice in Criminal Courts: Conference Report
Monroe H. Freedman Institute for the Study of Legal Ethics and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
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Andrea Marsh is a Clinical Lecturer and the Director of the Richard and Ginni Mithoff Pro Bono Program in the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law. In her role leading the Mithoff Program, Ms. Marsh works with students, private lawyers, and nonprofit organizations to develop and execute pro bono projects that provide meaningful experiential learning opportunities to Texas Law students and provide free legal services to over 1,500 individuals annually.
Ms. Marsh has professional experience in civil rights advocacy, criminal justice policy, and nonprofit fundraising and management. Prior to joining Texas Law, Ms. Marsh served as the Founding Executive Director of the Texas Fair Defense Project for ten years. At TFDP, Ms. Marsh worked with judges and bar leaders to create new standards and programs for the delivery of public defense services, led advocacy campaigns that resulted in legislation that protects the rights of poor people accused of crimes, and successfully challenged unconstitutional public defense procedures before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Ms. Marsh maintains a number of volunteer positions related to her work to address civil rights violations in the criminal legal system and consults on state and national criminal legal system reform efforts.
Ms. Marsh is a graduate of Tulane University and Yale Law School. She clerked for the Honorable Keith P. Ellison of the United States District Court in Laredo, Texas. Ms. Marsh has been awarded several prestigious national public interest fellowships, including the Liman Public Interest Fellowship (2002-2003, Yale Law School), the Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowship (2004-2006, Open Society Foundations), the Wasserstein Public Interest Fellowship (2005-2006, Harvard Law School), and the Humanities Institute Community Sabbatical Research Fellowship (2012-2013, University of Texas at Austin). Her work has been recognized with the State Bar of Texas’s J. Chrys Dougherty Legal Services Award (2014), an Impact Award from the Bar’s Poverty Law Section (2014), the Bar’s Michael K. Moore Award for Excellence in Research or Writing in the Area of Indigent Criminal Defense (2014), the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association’s Public Interest Award (2014), the Texas Law Fellowship’s Excellence in Public Interest Award (2009), and Texas Lawyer magazine’s Extraordinary Women in Texas Law Award (2008).
Professional Activities
2020
2020-present
Board of Directors
Regional Public Defender Office for Capital Cases Local Government Corporation
2019
2019-present
Organizational Development Committee
Travis County Public Defender Office
2018
2018-2019
Travis County Indigent Legal Services Work Group
Travis County Commissioners Court
2018-present
Pro Bono Committee
Austin Bar Association
2017
April 6-7, 2017
Conference Reporter
Judicial Responsibility for Justice in Criminal Courts Conference, Monroe H. Freedman Institute for the Study of Legal Ethics at Hofstra University's Maurice A. Deane School of Law
2017-2020
Price of Justice Grant Advisory Committee
Texas Office of Court Administration
2017-2019
Curriculum Consultant, Private Assigned Counsel Mentoring Programs
Smart Defense Initiative, National Legal Aid and Defender Association
2016
2016-present
Committee on Legal Services to the Poor in Criminal Matters
State Bar of Texas
2016
Collection Improvement Program Rules Review Advisory Committee
Texas Judicial Council
February 20 and May 20, 2016
Facilitator
Texas Law Stakeholder Convening on Municipal Courts/Fines and Fees
2015
2015-2019
Public Defense Litigation Advisory Committee
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
2015-2019
Smart Defense Portal State Advisory Group
Texas Indigent Defense Commission
2015-present
Board of Directors
Texas Fair Defense Project
2014
2014-2016
Executive Committee
Yale Law School Association
2014-present
Pro Bono Work Group
State Bar of Texas
April 9, 2014
Invited Participant
Yale Law School Criminal Justice Theory & Practice Workshop
2013
2013-2017
Client Choice Project Advisory Panel
Texas Indigent Defense Commission
2013-2015
Texas Weighted Caseload Study Advisory Panel
Texas Indigent Defense Commission
2008
2008-2009
Harris County Public Defender Office Study Group
Harris County Commissioners Court
2007
2007-2020
Oversight Board
Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases
2006
2006-2012
Committee on Legal Services to the Poor in Criminal Matters
State Bar of Texas
2006-2010
Inmate Representation Work Group
Texas Access to Justice Commission
2005
2005-present
Discretionary Grant Review Team
Texas Indigent Defense Commission
2004
2004-2011
Board of Directors
Texas Criminal Justice Coalition