Mentoring

The Texas Future Indigent Defense Leaders program (FIDL) connects promising young lawyers with nationally renowned training and mentorship that will help guide them through their crucial early years and beyond. FIDL is an innovative partnership between the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (TCDLA), Gideon’s Promise, the Harris County Public Defender’s Office, and the Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC). 

Previously, young Texas lawyers in the FIDL program traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to attend the Gideon’s Promise CORE 101 intensive training. Now, with the help of TCDLA, that training is coming home to Texas, taking the young lawyer bootcamp created by MacArthur Genius Award Winner Jon Rapping and tailoring it for Texas law and practice.

This year, 30 young lawyers will have the opportunity to be a part of history, as the inaugural Texas FIDL class. This three-year program begins with a two-week intensive bootcamp in San Antonio and returns for weekend trainings every six months for three years.

In addition to the CORE 101 training, FIDL fellows will also receive a scholarship to the Annual Rusty Duncan Advanced Criminal Law, the seminal criminal defense conference presented by TCDLA. The 30 Fellows selected will be expected to participate for the full three years of the program and will receive a scholarship covering their room, board and travel. 

Applications will be open from November 15 – December 20^th.  Young lawyers with less than four years’ experience are invited to apply. Sign up to be notified of when applications open. 

For questions, please contact William Cox wcox@tidc.texas.gov or Melissa Schank at mschank@tcdla.com.