Faculty Profile: Andrea M. Marsh
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Biography
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. Ms. Marsh teaches the Nonprofit Internship Course, with a focus on deepening students' understanding of the role of lawyers in increasing access to justice and in social change movements, ethical issues that confront public interest lawyers, and strategic development in nonprofit legal organizations. In her role leading the Mithoff Program, Ms. Marsh works with students, private lawyers, and nonprofit organizations to develop and execute projects that provide legal services to underserved communities.
Ms. Marsh has professional experience in civil rights advocacy, criminal justice policy, and nonprofit fundraising and management. Prior to joining Texas Law, Ms. Marsh founded the Texas Fair Defense Project and served as its Executive Director for ten years. TFDP is a nonprofit organization that works to improve the public defense system and challenge policies that create modern-day debtors’ prisons filled with poor people who cannot afford to pay commercial bond fees and post-conviction fines and costs. 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 justice system and consults on state and national criminal justice 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).
Courses for Fall 2017
View Course HistoryProfessional Activities
2017
April 6, 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
March 14, 2017
Presenter
Right to Counsel Consortium's Quarterly Webinar
"State of Crisis: Findings and Recommendations from NACDL's report on Louisiana's public defense crisis"
2017-present
Price of Justice Grant Advisory Committee
Texas Office of Court Administration
2017-present
Vice Chair, Oversight Board
Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases
2017-present
Curriculum Consultant, Private Assigned Counsel Mentoring Programs
Smart Defense Initiative, National Legal Aid and Defender Association
2016
December 14, 2016
Invited Participant
Beyond the Bench: Law, Justice, and Communities Summit
Invited attendee at event sponsored by the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to increase public trust in the courts.
October 25, 2016
Invited Participant
Right to Counsel Consortium Annual Meeting
Invited to attend meeting of national public defense leaders at the Department of Justice.
2016-present
Committee on Legal Services to the Poor in Criminal Matters
State Bar of Texas
May 20, 2016
Facilitator
Second Stakeholder Convening on Municipal Court Fines and Fees, The William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law
Facilitated discussion involving judges, court administrators, defense lawyers, and nonprofit advocates to identify best practices regarding the assessment and collection of legal financial obligations.
May 6, 2016
Moderator and Panelist
Texas Fair Defense Act 15th Anniversary Celebration Symposium, Texas Indigent Defense Commission
"A Look Forward to Challenges that Lie Ahead"
April 4, 2016
Trainer
Felony Attorney Mentoring Program, Capital Area Private Defender Service
"How Did We Get Here: Public Defense in Texas, 1993-2016"
2016
Collection Improvement Program Rules Review Advisory Committee
Texas Judicial Council
February 19, 2016
Presenter
Public Defense Committee, Mid-Year Meeting, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
"History and Principles of Systemic Indigent Defense Litigation"
February 10, 2016
Facilitator
Texas Stakeholder Convening on Municipal Court Fines and Fees, The William Wayne Justice for Public Interest Law
Facilitated discussion involving judges, court administrators, defense lawyers, and nonprofit advocates about problems in the assessment and collection of legal financial obligations.
2015
July 20, 2015
Panelist
Soros Justice Fellowships Conference
"Cash Register Justice"
2015-present
Public Defense Litigation Advisory Committee
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
2015-present
Smart Defense Portal State Advisory Group
Texas Indigent Defense Commission
May 8, 2015
Panelist
Equal Justice Conference
"Law Student Externs: Training the Next Generation and Expanding Services"
May 6, 2015
Panelist
Law School Pro Bono Advisors Preconference, Equal Justice Conference
"Strategies for Involving Students in Project Development and Management to Increase Pro Bono Program Capacity"
2015-present
Board Secretary
Texas Fair Defense Project
2014
October 6, 2014
Guest Lecturer
The University of Houston School of Law
Hot Topics in Criminal Defense Advanced Seminar
2014-present
Pro Bono Work Group
State Bar of Texas
2014-present
Executive Committee
Yale Law School Association
April 9, 2014
Presenter
Yale Law School Criminal Justice Theory & Practice Workshop
"Debtors' Prisons in Twenty-First Century America"
March 27, 2014
Panelist
Texas Association of Pretrial Services Agencies Conference
"Indigent Defense and Pretrial Justice"
2013
December 11, 2013
Presenter
Humanities Institute, The University of Texas at Austin
"Redefining Public Defense: Strategies for Delivering Client-Centered Representation"
2013-present
Client Choice Project Advisory Panel
Texas Indigent Defense Commission
2013-2015
Texas Weighted Caseload Study Advisory Panel
Texas Indigent Defense Commission
May 13, 2013
Presenter
Criminal Justice Conference, Texas Center for the Judiciary
"Judicial Orders for Repayment of Appointed Attorney Costs"
April 5, 2013
Panelist
Arthur Liman Public Interest Colloquium, Yale Law School
"Accessing Counsel and Courts"
2012
June 6, 2012
Presenter
Public Defender Training, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
"The Importance of Early Appointment of Counsel"
March 2, 2012
Panelist
Arthur Liman Public Interest Colloquium, Yale Law School
"Gideon Revived: Criminal Defense, Financial Austerity, and Overcriminalization"
2008
2008-2009
Harris County Public Defender Office Study Group
Harris County Commissioners Court
2007
2007-2016
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