APDA Conference 2026

Erin Sutherland is an appellate attorney at the Pima County Public Defender’s Office where she has also taken on the roles of Training Director and Law Clerk/Intern Supervisor. While attending law school at the University of Arizona, Erin began her career in indigent defense in 2008 as a student law clerk with the Pima County Public Defender’s Office. After graduating in 2009, she began supervising the law clerks, and upon admission to the Arizona bar, was hired as a felony trial attorney. Erin spent approximately three years as a trial attorney before moving into the appeals unit in 2014. Erin regularly argues before the Arizona Court of Appeals and has appeared before the Arizona Supreme Court in multiple cases. Many of her appeals have resulted in dramatic changes to the law, particularly in the areas of justification and search and seizure law. Erin is also a member of the AACJ amicus committee; she has worked on amicus briefs and Rule Petition comments filed on the organization’s behalf. Erin was the recipient of the Outstanding Attorney Award from the Arizona Public Defender’s Association at the statewide conference in 2021.