Raul Ayala is the Collaborative Courts Supervising Attorney for the Federal Public Defender’s Office in the Central District of California.  As such, he has been assigned as the lead Deputy Federal Public Defender for each of the Conviction and Sentence Alternatives (CASA) Program courts -- two in Los Angeles and one each in Santa Ana and Riverside.  In addition, he is a team member of the Substance Abuse Treatment and Reentry (STAR) Program, the district’s post-conviction reentry drug court.  Raul has been part of the CASA and STAR programs since 2011, and also serves as the office supervisor for its developing Social Support Unit.

He served as a federal defender from 1984–1988, established a private criminal defense practice for 20 years, and returned as a federal defender for his second “tour of duty” in 2008. He is a regular trainer for the national Defender Services Office of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts in Washington, D.C.

Raul is currently on the Council of the Criminal Justice Section (CJS), is Chair of the section’s Alternatives to Incarceration and Diversion Committee and is a Co-Executive Director of the Corrections and Sentencing Division and, chaired its Diversion Standards Task Force. The ABA Standards on Diversion were approved by the House of Delegates at the 2022 Annual Meeting.