Public defender hires training chief

Friday, Jan. 23, 2004 | 9:48 a.m.

Public Defender Marcus Cooper has hired an Indiana attorney to oversee the training of lawyers in the Clark County Public Defender's Office, county officials announced Thursday.

Cooper selected Terry Richmond as the office's first training director after considering more than a dozen applicants nationwide. Richmond is expected to begin in February.

As training director Richmond will create a program to help attorneys develop their legal and trial skills. He will also create similar training programs for other staff, including investigators, social workers and support staff.

The in-house training is expected to reduce the cost of sending attorneys out of state for skills trainings, as the office did in the past.

Cooper, who will retire from his position at the end of the month, said in a press release that he selected Richmond for the position, "because of his decades worth of experience and expertise in law."

Cooper said Richmond was "someone who will be able to make a real difference in raising the quality of presentation to our clients and contribute to the professional development of the staff."

Richmond is currently a training director and coach for the Indiana Public Defender Council personal coaching program, according to the release. He is also a law professor at the Indiana University School of Law.