Public Defenders — Paid Research Study

Help map public defenders' work

We are recruiting 100 current or former public defenders for a remote research study through Project Mercator. We want to understand the work you personally did, not an ideal job description.

What you will do

In the first survey, describe your primary responsibilities, tasks, smaller pieces of work, and which tasks need outputs from other tasks. You can also describe different versions of the same task. Written instructions and help from the study coordinator are provided. No outside research or real work product is required.

Wave 1 pays $100 per hour of reviewed survey time, up to 90 minutes ($150 maximum). Reading and thinking count while the survey is visible and focused. Pause for breaks. If you need more time, contact the coordinator before continuing beyond the cap.

A later survey will ask selected participants to review a combined task tree and add details. Its scope and compensation will be confirmed separately before you begin.

Who should apply

• Current or former public defenders with hands-on experience representing indigent clients in the United States.
• Able to describe the work you personally performed and the jurisdiction and period in which you practiced.
• Prior Mercor project experience is welcome but not required.

Experience solely as a prosecutor, law student, legal-content annotator, or lawyer without public-defense experience is not sufficient for this study. If your work was court-appointed or contract public defense, explain that arrangement so we can review the fit.

How to participate

Apply with your resume and a short description of your public-defense experience and availability. We review applications before sending personal survey links. Applying does not automatically enroll you or start the paid survey.

Use your own professional experience, not AI-generated answers. Do not include client names, case numbers, identifying facts, confidential information, or privileged material. We do not need any documents from real cases.

We consider all qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics and provide reasonable accommodations upon request.

Contract and Payment Terms

• You will be engaged as an independent contractor.
• This is a fully remote role that can be completed on your own schedule.
• Projects can be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on needs and performance.
• Your work at Mercor will not involve access to confidential or proprietary information from any employer, client, or institution.
• Payments are weekly on Stripe or Wise based on services rendered.
• Please note: We are unable to support H1-B or STEM OPT candidates at this time.

About Mercor

Mercor partners with leading AI labs and enterprises to train frontier models using human expertise. You will work on projects that focus on training and enhancing AI systems. You will be paid competitively, collaborate with leading researchers, and help shape the next generation of AI systems in your area of expertise.