OUR ATTORNEYS
Jennifer L. Givens
Director, Innocence Project Clinic
Professor of Law
J.D., DePaul University College of Law, 1997
B.A., Furman University, 1994
Jennifer Givens is the Director of the Innocence Project Clinic, which she co-teaches with Juliet Hatchett.
Prior to joining the clinic in 2015, Givens worked as an assistant federal defender in the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and as a senior staff attorney with the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center, where she represented death-sentenced inmates in state and federal post-conviction proceedings. Her career successes include securing a grant of clemency for a severely mentally ill client and winning a life sentence for an intellectually disabled client, both of whom were sentenced to death in Virginia. She has argued before state trial courts and U.S. district courts in Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as the Virginia Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Givens has served as an adjunct professor at Temple University School of Law and has regularly spoken at local and national capital habeas corpus trainings and conferences.
She is a member of the Virginia, Pennsylvania and Georgia bars.
Juliet B. Hatchett
Associate Director, Innocence Project Clinic
Assistant Professor of Law
J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, 2015
B.A., Columbia University, 2010
Juliet Hatchett is the Associate Director of the Innocence Project Clinic, which she co-teaches with Jennifer Givens.
Previously, for two years (2019-2021) Hatchett oversaw the Innocence Project at UVA School of Law’s Student Pro Bono Clinic. In that role, she served as the first staff attorney. Hatchett supervised a record 2,406 pro bono hours during the 2020-2021 school year. Hatchett oversaw, amongst other victories, the Pro Bono Clinic’s first Policy Team, which in its first two years successfully advocated for three bills that were signed into law.
Hatchett previously worked in private practice in New York City, focusing on white-collar criminal defense. A former member of the Innocence Project Clinic when she was a student at the Law School, she also served as a fellow in the Program in Law and Public Service, a participant in the Human Rights Study Project, and a Notes Editor for the Virginia Journal of International Law.
She is a member of the New York and Virginia bars.
Scott Gavin
Staff Attorney
J.D., Catholic University, 2008
B.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1998
Scott Gavin is a staff attorney at the Innocence Project. Prior to joining the Innocence Project, Gavin worked as a lead attorney at Capital Collateral Regional Counsel-South in Florida, where he represented death row inmates in both state and federal post-conviction appeals. His career successes include securing life sentences for two clients, each of which was sentenced to death in Florida. He has appeared before state trial courts and U.S. District Courts in Florida and is a member of the Florida and Virginia bars.