About Us

Stephen F. Hanlon is a dedicated attorney who is leading a national movement to reduce the workload of public defenders. He understands that when public defenders are overworked, they may not be fully equipped to defend their clients. As such, he is determined to ensure that public defenders have sufficient resources to provide the best legal representation to those who need it most. However, Lawyer Hanlon is not just a lawyer. He is a passionate advocate for social justice and fairness in the legal system, and he uses his platform to raise awareness about legal issues that affect marginalized communities. His unwavering commitment to fighting for justice has earned him respect and admiration from his peers and clients alike.
Mr. Hanlon began practicing law with his father, John F. Hanlon, about 55 years
ago in St. Louis, Missouri. He was mentored by his father, who was considered
by all who knew him to be “a lawyer’s lawyer.”
When Stephen F. Hanlon talks about leaving his job leading the nation’s largest private pro bono legal department at Holland & Knight in 2012, he likens it to taking a step into the unknown.
His legal team was coming off a decisive victory in which the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that judges could no longer ask the state’s public defenders to take on more cases than they could adequately represent. Hanlon called it a “watershed case.”
In the years since, Hanlon, now 79, has conducted various studies for the ABA in conjunction with major accounting and consulting firms in states across the country that show public defenders are overburdened and overworked without enough resources or time. In Louisiana, Hanlon’s study found that public defenders carried nearly five times the workload acceptable to provide reasonably effective representation. He made similar findings in Rhode Island and Colorado. (Arnold Ventures has supported some of Hanlon’s studies.)
Let Us Fight Together
Upcoming ‘watershed’ moment in public defense could spark nationwide solutions
Public defense across the West suffers deep-rooted, decades-old problems. States have...
The William P Murphy Scholarship Fund At The Missouri University School Of Law
This scholarship will support diverse and underrepresented students pursuing elective...
The Professor William P Murphy Scholarship At The University Of Missouri Law School
Here’s a video about a wonderful day we had recently at my law school. I got to say a...
Defenders In Distress
On Jan. 21 the American Bar Association released a two-year study of Oregon's public...
Stephen F. Hanlon Leads National Effort To Reform Indigent Defense
As general counsel to the National Association for Public Defense (NAPD), law professor...
Consulting The Oracle
In November 2015, word spread through New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward that people were DJing...
Equal Defense And Justice For Indigent People
Stephen F Hanlon is a longtime public interest and civil rights trial lawyer whose...
Lawyer Hanlon National CLE Presentation
Summing it Up: My Work on Public Defender Workload Studies and Litigation to Enforce...
NEW ABA/SCLAID PUBLIC DEFENDER WORKLOAD STUDIES REPORT
Table of Contents...
Stephen F. Hanlon Leads National Effort To Reform Indigent Defense
Stephen F. Hanlon, professor of practice at Saint Louis University School of Law,...
Interview With Hunter Parnell On Public Defenseless
You can listen to the entire podcast on Spotify and Apple.
One Man’s Fight For Reshaping The Nation’s Public Defense System
When Stephen F. Hanlon talks about leaving his job leading the nation’s largest private...
New Mexico Public Defender’s Five-Year Plan To Reduce Representation Deficiency
A FOLLOW UP TO THE FINDINGS IN: “The New Mexico Project – An Analysis of The New Mexico...
Punishing the Poor
“[T]he Supreme Court’s Sixth Amendment decisions regarding misdemeanor defendants are...
Court Watching in Nashville
It is ironic that defendants in the courts are charged with violations of the law and...
Contact us today to start reshaping the future of our nation's criminal legal system!