linda mcdermott

board of directors, founding member

Linda McDermott is a founding board member of the National Habeas Institute (NHI). Linda’s extensive experience in capital federal habeas corpus litigation over the past twenty-four years fits hand-in-glove with the key functions of NHI: to educate and train law students and lawyers in the area of federal habeas corpus, to advise and collaborate with NHI counsel on behalf of clients and to assist in revising and updating the standards to maintain quality representation for incarcerated individuals seeking habeas corpus review.

“I enthusiastically joined the NHI Board because I know the importance of federal habeas review for those individuals who are wrongfully convicted and sentenced.” McDermott continued: “Federal habeas corpus provides the last bastion of review for these individuals. Because so few resources are available to indigent individuals to take on this extremely complicated area of the law, NHI seeks to provide opportunities to educate and provide competent counsel for them. It is an honor to contribute to this important pursuit of justice.”

Having earned her A.B. in English from the University of Chicago and her J.D. from Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law, Linda joined the Office of the Capital Collateral Representative in Tallahassee, Florida, where she represented several death sentenced individuals in their postconviction appeals including the 99th and 103rd death row exonerees: Juan Roberto Melendez and Rudolph Holton. In 2003, Linda formed her private law firm, McClain and McDermott, where she continued to represent dozens of capital postconviction defendants before the state and federal courts. Linda achieved favorable outcomes for many clients. In 2009, the United States Supreme Court granted George Porter, Jr., a new penalty phase based on the substantial mitigation presented in postconviction, including evidence of Porter’s heroic military service during the Korean War. The Court’s opinion led to the adoption of Veteran’s  Treatment Courts in jurisdictions throughout the United States. Linda contributed a chapter about litigating Mr. Porter’s case in a The Attorney’s Guide to Defending Veterans in Criminal Court, which was published in 2014. Recently, in February, 2020, Linda joined the Capital Habeas Unit at the Office of the Federal Defender for the Northern District of Florida where she hopes to continue to provide competent representation to her clients before the federal courts.   

Linda is an avid runner and has competed in the Chicago marathon five times.