Birdsall sets sights on better life for clients, public defenders

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A moot-court exercise during eighth-grade social studies ignited John Birdsall’s interest in the law.

“I remember slamming my hand down on the table and saying, ‘No further questions!’ and walking away. I enjoyed that immensely,” he said.

Birdsall earned his law degree and was planning to obtain a doctorate in history when he began working for an investigator. He said he was enthralled by the work and knew he wanted to become a criminal-defense attorney.

“I appreciate the ability to breathe life into constitutional amendments about confessions, interrogations and other matters,” Birdsall said “I can also help people who have no money and can’t speak up for themselves, and they need protections.”

For the past 10 years he has dedicated much of his time to dealing with a constitutional crisis that’s affecting indigent defendants and private criminal-defense attorneys in Wisconsin. The state’s compensation rate of $40 an hour for state public-defender appointments was the lowest in the country and was giving private attorneys almost no incentive to accept public defender appointments. As a result, defendants would find themselves lingering in jail for weeks awaiting counsel or having to attend court proceedings without counsel.

Birdsall responded by forming a coalition of lawyers, judges and bar leaders. In May 2017, the coalition filed a petition calling on the Wisconsin Supreme Court to raise the hourly rate of compensation and ban the practice of capping compensation regardless of the time needed to provide effective representation. Birdsall also drafted legislation that would restructure the State Public Defender’s Office, provide adequate pay for attorneys and ensure better representation for indigent defendants.

For the last seven years, Birdsall has provided free legal services at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. The legal clinic started small and now involves several other attorneys. Once a year, Birdsall organizes a fundraiser for the rescue mission.

“Their legal problems are actually legally simple, but when you solve them it means everything to them and it takes a huge burden off of them,” he said. “It allows them to look ahead at their life without being dragged down by their past.”

“Outside of advocating for and defending the rights of the indigent and providing legal assistance to the homeless, Attorney Birdsall continues to be a zealous advocate for all of his clients,” his colleague, Nicole Muller, wrote in her nomination.