2026 Summer Public Defense Conference

David Tatem is the Towaliga Circuit Public Defender, serving Jackson, Lamar, and Monroe counties. David began working with the Georgia Public Defender Agency in 2014, winning a felony trial as a law student at Mercer University School of Law while interning with the Dublin Circuit Public Defender’s Office.

After earning his J.D. from Mercer University (2015), David went on to handle numerous felony cases for both the Conasauga and Towaliga Circuit as an Assistant Public Defender.

He has been a frequent lecturer for the Georgia Public Defender Council's Transition into Law Practice Program Conferences since 2021. David is a graduate of the National Association of Criminal Defense's Voir Dire College (2026) and is admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States (2025). David is from Panama City, Florida where the Gideon v. Wainwright case was born.