Alesia uses talents, experience in telling clients’ stories

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A win can be hard to come by in the State Public Defender’s appellate office for lawyers who are handling appeals cases involving crimes, juvenile matters, mental commitments and terminations of parental rights.

But even though Assistant State Public Defender Susan Alesia may find that the odds are stacked against her at times, she pushes on.

“You have to be able to continue to do your best,” she said. “You have to be able to take every case and … work as hard as you can and try as hard as you can.”

Her more than 20 years in the public defender’s Madison office have seen Alesia handling hundreds of criminal cases at the trial court, court of appeals and Wisconsin Supreme Court levels. She has earned a reputation for being a compassionate and tireless advocate for her clients.

Alesia has received praise not only for her writing and research, but also her ability to tell clients’ stories in ways that are both understandable and persuasive and help to shed new light on her cases.

“She knows how to dig well beyond the record to find claims for clients that others might consider a lost cause,” said Megan Sanders-Drazen of the State Public Defender’s Madison appellate office, “and her resourcefulness is complemented by a practicality and perspective that can only be acquired through years of litigating criminal appeals across the state.”

When Alesia started, she was one of five women in the office. She said she wouldn’t be where she is now without her parents’ support and encouragement.

“My mother made sure every door was open to me,” said Alesia, who tries to provide similar support to her colleagues, newer attorneys and working mothers.

“Susan has convinced me of my strength and my capacity as an advocate in some of my most challenging moments, and I know she’s done (and will do again) the same for others,” Sanders-Drazen said.

“It’s really hard sometimes,” Alesia said. “You feel like everybody is against you and then you lose. I’m just trying to help people in what I know is a really hard job.”