Born in South Korea, Sujung immigrated to the United States at the age of 7 with her family. She spent her childhood briefly in Philadelphia and mainly in New York City. Sujung graduated from Barnard College in 1988 and USF School of Law in 1994. In 1995, she started her legal career at the San Diego Public Defender’s Office, where she tried over 25 misdemeanor cases in two years. Since joining our in 1997, Sujung has tried close to 50 misdemeanor, felony and juvenile cases. In 2019, Sujung joined our Research Unit, where she writes and files motions and pretrial writs on behalf of the trial attorneys, provides legal research and support for attorneys in trial, and conducts office and state-wide trainings on legal and ethical issues. In June 2022, Sujung became the Managing Attorney of the Research Unit. At 25 years, Sujung is the longest-serving Korean-American public defender in our Office’s history.
Away from the Office, Sujung is a devoted mom to two teenage children, and enjoys yoga, running, traveling, hiking and live music shows.