I'm curious as to what a person should do when they have experienced negligence at the hands of a public defender. I would also like to apply that same question but redirect it towards a judge. Can you bring a malpractice suit against them seeing as they are public officials? How would one go about doing it? FYI the "harm" done in this situation would be.. I guess it could be unlawful incarceration, if there is such a thing. A person was denied bail and was incarcerated for over 3 weeks when they were actually allowed bail as a right. There was a public defender assigned to the case, and he was informed of the law, the defendant was still denied bail. Only after being threatened with a complaint to the bar, did something actually happen (another secret bail review) and defendant was released.