Nicole Banister (JD '15) helps launch public defender program in Uganda

May 4, 2017 | By Kylie Larkin -- Pepperdine Law alumna Nicole Banister (JD '15) is currently serving as the Pepperdine Global Justice Program's project manager for the launch of the public defender pilot program and plea bargaining pilot program in the Mukono Chief Magistrate Court of Uganda. Banister recently completed a one-year term as the Nootbaar Fellow in the Global Justice Program, serving in Uganda as a full-time mediator with the Judiciary. During the summer of 2013, Banister served as an intern for the Criminal Division of the High Court of Uganda. Banister worked closely with the Criminal Division as it rolled out plea bargaining, and participated in Uganda's first plea bargaining pilot program in Fort Portal, Uganda. Upon graduating in 2015, Nicole relocated to Uganda to serve as a mediator in the Family Division of the High Court and to continue coordinating the Global Justice Program's work on plea bargaining and other judicial reforms.