Jose Varela

Jose Varela, Marin County Public Defender, is a magna cum laude graduate of Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga. He received his J.D. from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Boalt, Mr. Varela was awarded the Sowell Fellowship in Labor Law and was the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the La Raza Law Journal. Mr. Varela served as a deputy public defender in Los Angeles and San Diego Counties before joining the Marin County Public Defender's Office in March of 2001. As a trial attorney, Mr. Varela has tried cases ranging from misdemeanors to death penalty cases. He is a current member of the California Public Defender Association's Board of Directors and is a frequent speaker at CPDA training seminars. Mr. Varela is active on many Marin County steering committees, including Adult Drug Court, Proposition 36, and the County's Strategic Plan Implementation Group.