What’s Going on With the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services?
Join Jim Billings, Executive Director of PDS, for a virtual Lunch & Learn event. Jim will share an update on the challenges facing those providing indigent legal services in Maine. Jim will also give a status update on the roll out of Maine’s five approved brick and mortar public defender offices.
Jim Billings, Esq., Executive Director of PDS: Jim’s background is in litigation, and he has worked at the law firms of Thompson & Bowie in Portland; Lipman, Katz & McKee in Augusta; and then at McKee Billings in Augusta before joining MaineDOT. In private practice, Jim handled a variety of civil and criminal cases, in both state and federal courts, including jury trials and appellate work. Jim joined MaineDOT as principal attorney in 2016 and was named Chief Counsel in 2018. As Chief Counsel of MaineDOT, Jim managed the Legal Services Division which provides legal support for all bureaus within the Department including Project Development, Maintenance and Operations, the Property Office, the Environmental Office, and the Contract Procurement Office.
In 2023, Jim became the Executive Director of the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services. There, Jim uses his experience and passion to improve the quality of and access to indigent representation in Maine. Jim is a native Mainer, hailing from Downeast, who moved with his family to Augusta in 2006. Jim has served on the Maine Board of Bar Examiners, the Advisory Committee on the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure, is a past President of the Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and has taught criminal law at the University of Maine at Augusta. Jim lives in Augusta where he enjoys raising his three boys, hiking, and winter sports.