Get to know who works at the ACBA through Staff Spotlights! Periodically we will feature one of the ACBA staff so you can learn a little bit more about who is on the other end of the phone/email. Happy reading!
This week we are featuring Nicolas King, Director, Court Appointed Attorneys Program (CAAP). Nicolas recently joined the ACBA.
What do you do?
I’m still figuring out the details (see the next answer), but basically I manage the day-to-day operation of CAAP.
How long have worked at ACBA?
Twenty five days. I have a lot to wrap my head around. We have a panel of over 150 defense attorneys. Through our contract with the County they handle about 6,000 cases per year. Our goal is to provide high-quality representation to people accused of crimes who cannot afford a lawyer. CAAP screens attorneys before they can join the panel and assigns the cases to them on a rotation basis. Our goal is to provide additional resources they need—continuing education, investigators, experts, mentoring, not to mention payment for their services—to be successful in representing their clients.
What is your favorite thing about working at the ACBA?
In the big picture, this is an exciting time to work in criminal justice. At the state and county government level we have a lot of good people who want innovative solutions to public safety problems. And the public is ready for them after years of poor investments that have not made us safer.
Day-to-day, I love working in Jack London Square. I’m not that different than my six-year old son. I love seeing the AT-AT cranes load the cargo ships and watching the long trains go by.
What is one thing that members might be surprised to learn about the ACBA?
I just learned that one of my colleagues is on a semi-professional roller derby team. I’m looking forward to checking out one of her bouts (Apparently they’re called bouts—not matches, not games—bouts).
What is your dream vacation?
Having just started I haven’t accrued vacation time. My dreams will have to wait.
What are you reading right now?
I read thirty or forty books a week. Most are for kids. The rest is a perpetual New Yorker backlog and, now, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander.
What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you?
I’m excited about my new job. A lot of people are surprised that I would voluntarily work with county bureaucracy and 150 defense attorneys, but so far I love it. I’ve met some really interesting and smart people.
What person, living or dead, real or fictional, would you like to have dinner with?
I would have to go with Jesus? So much has happened the last couple thousand years–what does he think about it all? And on the plus side, we’d never run out of wine.
What is your go-to karaoke song?
Unless you’re one of my children in the back seat of the car, you will never hear me sing.