Jennifer Wellman is a Supervising Attorney with the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, Washington.  In addition to administrative responsibilities, she is responsible for all aspects of trial and appellate representation of individuals charged with federal misdemeanor or felony crimes and all aspects of habeas corpus litigation.

In 2000, Wellman received awards for outstanding work in Zadvydus v. Ashcroft v. Ma, 553 U.S. 678 (2001), in which she was second chair and lead writer in the successful challenge to the indefinite detention of persons ordered deported.  In 2011, Wellman joined the Honorable Ricardo Martinez, now the Chief United States District Judge in the W.D. of Washington, and the other founding members of the Drug Re-Entry Alternative Model (DREAM) program.  She spearheaded the creation of the inaugural documents for DREAM, currently serves on the DREAM Executive Team and represents the DREAM participants.

Wellman has worked with the Federal Defender’s Office since 1998, served the Court as a Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representative in 2013-2015 (Co-Chair 2014-2015), was the 2013 President of the Federal Bar Association for the Western District of Washington and currently volunteers for the Seattle Federal Civil Rights Legal Clinic.  She is a graduate of Vermont Law School, JD (1994) and the University of California, San Diego, BA Sociology (1989). Wellman is admitted to practice law in California (inactive), Oregon (inactive) and Washington (active) and admitted and qualified as an Attorney with the United States District Court, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and United States Supreme Court.

The Contributor wishes to acknowledge the substantial assistance received in connection with the entry on Justice Wiley Manual by Marissa Therriault, a senior at the University of Washington, where she is studying Law, Societies and Justice and French.