Wendy Steiner is a 2000 graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law and officially joined the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender the same year. She has practiced in Child Protection, Misdemeanors, Felony Trial Division and is currently assigned to the Homicide Task Force/Multiple Defendant Division, handling homicide cases almost exclusively. She was certified by the Illinois Capital Litigation Trial Bar as Lead Counsel prior to the abolition of the death penalty in Illinois.

Theodore Thomas serves as the Deputy Public Defender of the Professional Development Division and the First Municipal Division at the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender. As Deputy Public Defender of Professional Development, Mr. Thomas oversees training and professional development for the Office’s Defenders, including more than 500 attorneys, 70 administrative professionals, 60 investigators, as well as caseworkers, interpreters, mental health professionals, and mitigation specialists. During his more than 16 years with the Office, Mr. Thomas has served in numerous roles as a public defender. He was previously assigned to the Homicide Task Force, where he exclusively represented indigent clients charged with murder and other homicide-related offenses. He has tried more than 60 jury trials and has practiced in the Office’s Felony Trial Division at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, as well as the Misdemeanor and Traffic Divisions at the Maywood Courthouse. In his current role as Deputy Public Defender of the First Municipal Division, Mr. Thomas also oversees attorneys representing clients in misdemeanor, traffic, domestic violence, and preliminary hearing courtrooms throughout Chicago. When he is not training and developing Defenders, Mr. Thomas devotes much of his time to mentoring young attorneys and law students. One of his greatest passions is serving as Head Coach of the National Trial Team at DePaul University College of Law, where he has mentored hundreds of aspiring lawyers. He also serves as an adjunct professor of Evidence and Trial Advocacy I at DePaul and regularly presents on topics related to trial advocacy, evidence, and the development of effective advocates. Mr. Thomas is a graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and DePaul University College of Law.