Although the Defender Association of Philadelphia conducted a nationwide search for its new leader after Keir Bradford-Grey stepped down in March, it turned out the organization didn’t need to look far to find what it was looking for.

Earlier this month, the group selected longtime public defender Keisha Hudson, who not only was a top officer at the neighboring Montgomery County Public Defender’s Office, but she also began her career representing indigent defendants at the Philadelphia Defender Association nearly 20 years ago.