We were lucky to catch up with Lindsay Bendell recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Lindsay thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Everyone has a story to tell. We are NOT our worst moment. Everyone deserves a second chance. These are the things that drive our mission at Mitigation Mentor. Mitigation Mentor is the first and only on-demand education program for forensic social work and non-capital mitigation and what that means is: in order to fight for a more equitable and just system, individuals facing that system must have their stories told. As a sole proprietor providing these services throughout the nation the road became extremely lonely and I felt lost. I had one of the biggest wins you can imagine when I was able to fight for a client to be released from federal prison after serving close to 25 years on what was originally a life sentence yet I still felt like I wasn’t doing enough- there was so much more work to be done! That is how I dreamt up Mitigation Mentor; I know I am not the only one passionate about advocating for change in the criminal justice system and I want to teach other clinicians how they can advocate alongside me to make tangible change not just in people’s lives but in justice system as a whole.
Lindsay, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Lindsay and as cliche as it sounds I fell into criminal defense-based social work. I know that may be hard to believe but it is the truth! I graduated with my Masters degree in Social Work in Denver in 2018 and was very interested in true crime; I listened to true crime podcasts nonstop and one day I saw a job posting for the Public Defenders Office where I would be working to assist in representing individuals charged with crimes and I thought to myself, “that’s it! That’s what I want to do!”. I applied thinking it would be a long shot to land the job and before I knew it I was working in criminal defense.
In my role providing both forensic social work as well mitigation I split my time pretty evenly between traditional social work such as connecting clients to services like housing, medicaid as well as other services and providing in-depth reports that tell my client’s story to advocate for a more just outcome for individuals ensnared in the justice system. My reports give an often overlooked voice to the defendant themself and informs the court of the client’s history and what they might have gone through in their history that made them turn to crime in the first place. It gives the courts a holistic perspective into the client’s life.
I am most proud of the two men I have saved from life sentences with my convincing reports and ability to shine a light on the amazing things people can accomplish if just given the chance.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
For me it has really been word of mouth. Being that my field is so niche, all you really have is your reputation so it is important to maintain that reputation by producing valuable materials that convince judges and prosecutors to have empathy for clients facing criminal charges. If you take pride in your work and it shows in your product, the calls will definitely come in.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Business, much like life, is a series of pivots! Last winter, I found myself in a really deep depression. I was facing the worst case of burnout I had ever experienced after spending the last year traveling all over the country and spending the majority of my time in Federal prisons- it was draining. I had to take a step back and decide if my practice was worth my health and mental health and I decided it wasn’t so I took a step back and started working full time for a large company. In hindsight, this was the best thing that could have ever happened to my career because after taking some space and focusing on my health, I was able to reflect on what I would need to return to the field and return to my practice and what I found was that there are simply not enough mitigation specialists to keep up with the demand which left us critically overworked and often feeling alone in the work we did. From this, I started my new business, Mitigation Mentor to teach other clinicians how they can do this work and be part of the solution to advocating for a more just criminal justice system and I have been pouring my soul into this project and it has been so healing and exciting!
Contact Info:
- Website: mitigationmentor.com
- Instagram: @truecrimesocialworker
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/lindsay-bendell