A recommendation
that advocates.

To Whom It May Concern, I am writing in strong support of Maria Santiago's application to your program. I supervised Maria for two years at the Public Defender's Office, where she served as our senior paralegal. In that time, Maria demonstrated something I rarely see in this work: judgment under pressure. Two specific examples come to mind. First, during the Hendricks trial, she identified a discovery error our team had missed — at 11 PM, two days before opening — that materially shifted the case. Second, she trained four new paralegals during a hiring surge, all of whom are still with the office and performing at a senior level. Maria is dependable, intellectually honest, and unusually good at the parts of this work that nobody sees. She will be an asset to any program lucky enough to admit her, and I expect her to lead a team within five years. I recommend her without reservation. I'm available at the contact below for any further conversation. Sincerely, Dana Whitfield, Esq. Senior Public Defender