Sara Jacobson, Esq.

Staff Member

Sara Jacobson, Esq.

PDAP Executive Director

Sara Jacobson is the Executive Director for the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania (PDAP), where she is responsible for training and supporting public defenders across Pennsylvania. She also chairs Pennsylvania’s Indigent Defense Advisory Committee, created in 2023 to recommend standards and funding frameworks for Pennsylvania, so it can provide grants for indigent defense.

Before joining the PDAP, Sara served as the Director of Trial Advocacy and an Associate Professor at Temple Law School, where she served as the Director of Trial Advocacy and an Associate Professor. At Temple, she taught Trial Advocacy, Evidence and Criminal Procedure, and worked with Temple’s International LLM program in Beijing, She also helped to run Temple’s National Trial Team and co-chaired the Dean’s Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion.

Before joining the Temple faculty, Sara was an assistant Public Defender at the Defender Association of Philadelphia, where she tried thousands of cases, served as the Assistant Chief of the Juvenile Unit, and taught a Criminal Defense Clinic for Penn Law. Her first job as a Public Defender was in Berks County.

In 2024 Sara was appointed by Governor Shapiro to Chair Pennsylvania’s Indigent Defense Advisory Committee. She served on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Rules of Evidence Committee through October of 2023, serving as the Committee Chair and Vice-Chair. She was a member of Governor Shapiro’s Safety and Justice transition committee. She is a former Chair of the Public Interest Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association and served on its Board of Governors.

In 2023 Sara was awarded the Cesare Beccaria award by the Criminal Justice Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association. In 2022 she was awarded the Cheryl Ingram Advocate for Justice award by the Bar Association, which honors individuals who have made substantive contributions to the LGBT community in Philadelphia. That same year she was awarded the Edward D. Ohlbaum Professionalism Award by Stetson Law School, which recognizes a trial team coach or program director who exemplifies the late Professor Ohlbaum’s commitment to doing things with a high degree of professionalism, integrity, and competency.

Our mission is to provide tools, strategies, mutual support, training and information to Public Defender Offices in Pennsylvania; to be the voice of public defense in Pennsylvania; and to promote best practices in the leadership, management, and administration of justice in Pennsylvania.