Faculty Profile: Mary-Kathryn Harcombe

Mary-Kathryn HarcombeOffice of the Federal Public Defender - Middle District of Tennessee
Previous Courses Taught (10)
  • Immigration Law 2021: Crafting Plea Deals, Fighting Removability in Immigration Court
  • Immigration Law Updates 2021
  • Immigration Law 2020: Federal Litigation and Supreme Court Updates
  • Immigration Winter Forum 2020
  • Criminal Law: Immigration and Crimes
  • Immigration 2018: Foreign Nationals in Criminal Proceedings
  • Criminal Law Forum 2018
  • Immigration Law Forum 2018
  • The Padilla Decision: What Every Criminal Attorney Should Know 2011
  • The Padilla Decision: What Every Criminal Attorney Should Know
Biography

Mary-Kathryn Harcombe grew up in Houston, Texas, but left as soon as she could. She attended college at Stanford University in California and law school at New York University School of Law. In 2004, Mary-Kathryn came to Nashville to clerk for Judge Martha C. Daughtrey on the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The following year, she began work at the Nashville Public Defender's Office, where she still works today. At the PD's Office, Mary-Kathryn has represented clients on almost every kind of case, ranging from driver's licenses to death penalty murder. In 2014, Mary-Kathryn shifted focus to become the "immigration specialist" at Nashville Defenders. In that role, she created and now runs the Public Defender's Office's New Americans Project, which aims to improve criminal defense services for those who are non-citizens or new to this country. Nashville Defenders is the only public defense office in Tennessee to house an immigration specialist. Mary-Kathryn writes and presents frequently about the interaction between criminal and immigration law in Davidson County and Tennessee.