Molly Donald

Elizabeth Geary
Myranda Hinkson
Christyana Wood
Ethnographic Project First Draft

**Note: At the beginning of new each paragraph is a brief description/sentence from our Ethnographic
Research Proposal Research Question section in hopes to thoroughly address and answer each
question in this results section. Obvi will be deleted for the final version :)

Results
**What goes into developing documents from the standpoint of a public defender? Understanding the
standards of practice within the field of public defense. Incorporation of SPTC here.
In SPTC, Chapter 9 How Can Technical Communicators Work in an Ethical and Legal
Manner? discusses how technical communicators function as authors, shaping the meaning of
texts. In a profession that relies heavily on efficiency and effectiveness, it is necessary for
technical communicators to know the following: ethical norms that form work relationships and
environment; relevant principles and laws; power dynamics in communicative situations;
opposing perspectives and obligations; and the best course for the stakeholder. Technical
communicators should be accustomed to the laws and ethical norms that shape the work culture
in order to accurately represent their client. We see from the interview (Ask why she should be
accustomed to laws and ethical norms). She explains (her explanation on the importance). It is
also imperative in the legal professional that the technical communicator know how to recognize
relevant principles and statutes. (Ask if she is aware of relevant principles and statutes before the
job or learns them after experience and her own cases). (Also ask how does she keeps updated
with new principles/statutes, updated databases/books, news, co-workers?) As noted in Chapter
9, technical communicators have a responsibility to instruct and warn and the responsibility to
protect the privacy of others; since legal writers are technical communicators, public defenders
also have this duty to their clients. Perhaps the most important part of having this responsibility
is how to then link or connect the relevant law to a specific case. For example, we learned in our
interview that legal professionals use databases to search case law and precedent rulings. Devin
in particular, uses Westlaw at her new job and this website offers additional links to relevant
cases at the bottom of the searched case page (idk how to word this but im trying to say after she
searched and found a case there are more at the bottom relevant to the crime). Since law is
always defined and fixed, public defenders should understand the standards of practice within the
field of public defense.