The International Legal Foundation
Mythri Jayaraman is an Assistant Federal Defender for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Prior, as a staff attorney with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, her responsibilities included special assignments with the Homicide Unit, training attorneys on interpreting and challenging DNA evidence, and working with the Mental Health Unit in collaboration with case managers, social workers, judges, family members, and prisons to find positive outcomes that minimized incarceration time by utilizing community resources. Mythri volunteered as an ILF International Fellow first in the West Bank (2015) and then in Tunisia (2016) and Afghanistan (2017). She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma and a J.D. from the Washington and Lee University School of Law in Virginia.
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The International Legal Foundation
Founded in 2001, the International Legal Foundation is the leading global advocate for the right to counsel for the poor. We are pioneering the establishment of public defender offices as countries rebuild and remake their criminal justice systems. Our team works in some of the world's most challenging places, where poor, vulnerable, and marginalized groups face discrimination and abuse. We achieve systemic change through litigation, advocacy, and policy reform. The ILF currently has programs in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Nepal, Tunisia, and the West Bank. Over the years, we have represented more than 60,000 people and trained and mentored hundreds of lawyers. We are building a culture of defense and creating a new generation of skilled defense lawyers through multi-year, intensive mentoring. We also conduct high-level advocacy, pushing countries, international institutions, and donors to prioritize legal aid as a fundamental human right. We were a drafter of the United Nations Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2012. We also organized the first-ever international conference on public defense, held in Johannesburg, South Africa in June 2014. Today, we are in the vanguard of global efforts to standardize public defense so quality legal services are measurable and accountable.