Judge Philip H. Pennypacker has served as a Deputy Public Defender, and Acting Public Defender for Santa Clara County. He founded the Conflicts Administration Program in 1980, which had a strong component of training for attorneys who would be appointed to represent accused persons whom the Public Defender could not represent. He has done training for attorneys statewide as Executive Director of the California Public Defenders Association. Judge Pennypacker practiced criminal defense for over thirty years prior to his appointment to the Superior Court of Santa Clara County in October 2003.