He has served as Assistant Public Defender since January 2009 and previously from 2000-2005. He spent the intervening years as a civil litigator in private practice. In 2012, Mr. Bateh was elected to the Jacksonville Bar Association Board of Governors, a seat to which he was re-elected in 2015. He has been the lone voice for public interest law on that panel. The Jacksonville native is also a graduate of the University of North Florida.