California Public Defenders

The CPDA Members App was created to help build a closer-knit community among members. Members of CPDA who download the app can join conversations, share photos, learn about events, and locate contact information for all members.

The California Public Defenders Association (CPDA) is a nonprofit organization that serves as a resource center for its members who are all criminal defense attorneys - both private attorneys who practice criminal defense in California, and public defenders who are criminal defense attorneys employed by local county public defender agencies. The organization was formed over 40 years ago and today provides numerous on-site training programs through the year and in different locations held throughout the state of California, all designed exclusively for criminal defense attorneys who practice in California. Together, the two groups of criminal defense attorneys (private defenders and public defenders) comprise the membership of CPDA, which totals over 3,400 practicing criminal defense attorneys in California, in particular, but the membership is open to criminal defense attorneys in other states and several hundred from throughout the U.S. are associate members of CPDA.