William J. Leahy is Chief Counsel of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the Massachusetts indigent criminal defense agency. Mr. Leahy has devoted his entire career to public defender work since graduating from Harvard Law School in 1974. He represented clients for ten years at the trial and appellate levels before becoming the head of the Massachusetts public defender system in 1984, and he has served as Chief Counsel since 1991. In that capacity, he directs a state department which oversees the provision of legal representation to indigent persons in nearly 300,000 cases a year, and he is an active participant in public debate on criminal justice issues.

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Last updated April 16, 2002