Marla J. Stephens is the Director of the Appellate Division for the Wisconsin State Public Defender (SPD). Prior to her appointment as Director, she worked as a staff attorney in the SPD’s Milwaukee (Adult Criminal) Trial Division office, and as a staff attorney, then First Assistant, in the Milwaukee Appellate Division office.
Ms. Stephens serves as the Public Defender’s designee on the Wisconsin Judicial Council, chairs its Appellate Procedure Committee, and is a member of the 2010 Joint Legislative Council Study Committee on Criminal Justice System Funding and Strategies, the Strategic Planning Committee of the State Bar of Wisconsin and the Association for Women Lawyers Foundation Board. She is also a member of the Criminal Law and Appellate Practice Sections of the State Bar, the National and Wisconsin Associations of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Milwaukee Bar Association (Legal Services to the Indigent Committee and Courts Committee) and the Association for Women Lawyers. She has also served as the Chair of the Wisconsin Judicial Council, as a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin Board of Governors and its Executive Committee, and on the Joint Legislative Council Study Committee on Placement of Sex Offenders. She is a guest lecturer on appellate practice and procedure at the University of Wisconsin law school.
Ms. Stephens received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and her law degree from Marquette University. She lives in Milwaukee with her husband, Attorney Robert Dvorak, and their dog.
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