Annie Deets

Annie Deets is the Director of Trial Advocacy at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. She is an experienced trial attorney, advocacy instructor, and program director. Known as a thought leader in the trial advocacy community, she was awarded the 2020 Prentice Marshall Faculty Award for the Development of Innovative Teaching Methods by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. She is a member of NITA’s Board of Trustees and frequent program director and faculty member for both national and international programs. In 2018, she was named as one of three faculty members in the nation to be part of NITA’s Next Generation Faculty Development Program.

As an adjunct professor, Annie created and taught experiential learning advocacy courses at both Emory University School of Law and Georgia State College of Law, including Trial Practice, Expert Witness Testimony Using Technology, and Criminal Competency and Responsibility. She has been an integral part of the growth and development of Emory’s competitive mock trial team, leading the school to its first appearance in the National Trial Competition finals and to a top ten ranking among competitive teams in 2019. Annie also served as a Team Leader for Emory Law’s Kessler-Eidson Program for Trial Techniques (KEPTT), which is one of the country’s largest trial advocacy programs (250+ students) and was awarded the Emil Gumpert Award for excellence in the teaching of trial advocacy by the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Annie has significant trial experience in both the civil and criminal arenas, first as legal services attorney, then as a prosecutor, and finally as a public defender. For the last 17 years of her career as a trial attorney, she was on front line as a public defender in the metro-Atlanta area, handling some of the most complex and high-profile criminal cases. In her role as a managing attorney at the DeKalb County Public Defender’s Office, she also developed the office’s practices and procedures for professional development and mentorship.

Annie graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School, where she was given the Carl J. Ruskowski Clinical Legal Education Award, awarded to the student who demonstrated excellence in practice of law and best exemplified the highest standards of the legal profession. She attended Southern Methodist University on a golf scholarship and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. In 2018, Annie was named to the Indiana High School Golf Hall of Fame. Her super power is her family, which consists of her wife, Ginah, her daughter, Poppy, and her son, McCormick.

She hopes that her love of and passion for trial advocacy is contagious!