Robin Konrad

Board of Directors Chair

Robin Konrad has worked in all three areas of NHI’s work, as a capital habeas attorney, a legal educator, and a policy researcher. She joined NHI in Fall 2018 as the founding Board Chair. “It is exciting to be part of growing a new organization that is working to fill the gaps that keep so many deserving individuals from obtaining habeas relief.”

Robin has served as an Assistant Federal Defender in Capital Habeas Units in both Alabama and Arizona, representing state and federal death-sentenced prisoners convicted in many different jurisdictions. She is currently an Assistant Federal Defender in the Capital Habeas Unit in Montgomery, Alabama. Robin has handled capital habeas cases at every stage, including arguing before the United States Supreme Court, but what matters most to her is figuring out and telling her clients’ stories. 

In addition to her extensive direct representation experience, Robin also served from 2016 to 2018 as the Director of Research and Special Projects at the Death Penalty Information Center, the country’s go-to resource for research and information on capital punishment. From 2018-2020, she helped train the next generation of lawyers as an Assistant Professor of Lawyering Skills at Howard University School of Law, teaching capital punishment law and legal research and writing.

As both an alumnus and former faculty member at Howard University School of Law, Robin is passionate about racial and social justice. She is dedicated to increasing diversity among habeas lawyers and has helped develop NHI’s pipeline program between Howard students and public defender offices. Further, having seen the complexities of habeas law firsthand, Robin is committed to ensuring that prisoners have quality representation when challenging their unconstitutional convictions and sentences.