MDefenders Alum
Name
Achal Fernando-Peiris, ’25.
Where are you from originally?
Gambier, Ohio.
Where did you attend college for your undergraduate degree?
Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York.
Where are you working now and what is your position there?
Staff attorney, The Legal Aid Society.
What other defender offices have you worked at?
I was a paralegal at the Federal Defenders of New York for three years and then spent my Law School summers at Orleans Public Defenders and The Bronx Defenders.
How did MDefenders play a role in your law school experience?
MDefenders was the reason I attended Michigan Law.
For me, my law school experience was grounded in the MDefenders community. From my first event during 1L, which was a panel of defenders from NDS Detroit, Professor Primus encouraged us all to think carefully about what kind of defenders we wanted to be. The concepts I learned through MDefenders have been extremely informative in approaching this work as a young defender.
But more than anything, the people I met in MDefenders have become lifelong friends and colleagues. When I’m unsure about how I want to approach a difficult case, I call my friend who is a fellow defender in New York and who I met through MDefenders. I know that I can count on her to give me good advice and to talk through complicated issues.
This is the true benefit of having MDefenders throughout law school and as you start your career: it gives you a phenomenal network of defenders, led by Professor Primus, who are kind, thoughtful, and happy to talk with you about work or life as a defender.
How has MDefenders made a difference in your career development?
MDefenders has played a huge role in my development as a young lawyer. More than anything, it gave me a a template for approaching my work as a defender. I think one of the most difficult parts about starting out is that you suddenly have 60 to 80 cases that you know nothing about. If you are simultaneously figuring out what is going on in each case while trying to learn to communicate with clients, to organize your work, and to work up a case, it is easy to become overwhelmed.
Through MDefenders programming and PDTI, even though I didn’t know exactly what I was doing in each case, I had a framework for how to investigate, how to call clients, and how to organize a case file. So, because I felt confident doing some of the more basic tasks, I could spend my time researching case law and really familiarizing myself with the facts of each case. MDefenders gives you the foundation to build a thoughtful and deliberate practice as a young public defender.
Why did you enroll in the Public Defender Training Institute?
Enrolling in PDTI was a no-brainer for me—it was one of the main reasons I came to Michigan. I knew that understanding the law was only the first step to being a good public defender.
Maybe more importantly, you have to be able to frame your arguments within the law and to explain the law in simple and digestible ways. I knew that PDTI would start introducing me to these skills and teach me to make carefully crafted arguments.
How has the Public Defender Training Institute helped you in your career?
PDTI was the best experience I had in law school. Throughout the yearlong course, we were constantly refining our skills as a communicators: taking sometimes complicated concepts and making them understandable both for a client and the court. And Professor Primus pushes you, in these simulations, to be the best advocate possible.
When I started in the program, I was nervous about speaking in front of the entire class and would carefully prepare every exercise. Professor Primus pushed me to continue preparing carefully, but also to be flexible as advocate. Having to do different exercises in class every week (cross-examination, opening statement, oral argument, hearing arguments) made me a more comfortable speaker and advocate.
Now, in court, I’m not phased when a judge asks me an unexpected question. Just like Professor Primus taught us in PDTI, I take a moment to think about the question, and then carefully formulate an answer that advocates a favorable position for the client I represent.
PDTI was essential in my growth as a defender: not only did it give me concrete skills that I employ everyday, but it prepared me to deal with the the sometimes daunting nature of a courtroom. When I get nervous or scared in a courtroom, I think back to how Professor Primus would have wanted me to react. More than anything, PDTI made me comfortable taking up space and time in a place that is focused on the violent processing of people. It made a much more confident and deliberate defender.