Lawyers Unwilling to Take Indigent Cases
Lawyers Unwilling to Take Indigent Cases
A legislative committee received a report on criminal cases involving poor defendants today. They were told the number of lawyers who would take on such cases, in one eastern state's three largest counties, had nearly bottomed out. If the state doesn't soon increase the compensation rate for lawyers, there will be a crisis. These three counties have judges stating that there should be a dramatic increase in the hourly pay rates for the attorneys who can handle indigent criminal clients.
One judge talked about the list of people, half of them lawyers will less than three year's experience, who would take on such cases. This list, which has shrunk in the past couple years, is suffering because of money issues. The judge says that the low reimbursement rates mean that less experienced attorneys are the only ones on the list. He would like the rates for both in and out of court work to be doubled.
The lawyers won't take on the criminal cases because they can earn more money writing up wills and working on civil suits. It isn't fair to expect lawyers to lose money while working for the state. Many of these poor defendants end up getting assigned court-appointed attorneys, many of whom lose money on these cases.
Many years back, fiscal difficulties required a reduction in the compensation for lawyers handling criminal defense representation of poor clients. The hourly rates of pay for work done inside and outside of court were both substantially lowered. Today's rates are very similar to those of twenty years ago. Requesting that the committee minimally restore the prior rates per hour, a different county judge agreed with his colleague's legitimate concern.
His court is not able to function as smoothly because so many lawyers have removed their names from his volunteer list. The prior levels would bring back in a portion of the attorneys whom they have lost, and help them to retain the services of other ones which they would possibly lose going forward, if the pay rates were reset, he stated. The current system seems to work well, except that everyone wants more money for the lawyers.
There may be 300 attorneys who work in one county, but very few of them are willing to take on poor criminal defendants, and the number is dropping. A judge is willing to go so far as to say that most of the lawyers asking for removal from the volunteer list cite the lack of adequate pay as the primary and sole reason. Testimonials were proffered by a county judge indicating that only a quarter of the lawyers in his jurisdiction were willing to accept poor clients. The number is shrinking even more, because the list of original volunteers continues to shrink. No decisions were rendered by the panel charged with making suggestions to lawmakers regarding the issue of pay rates for counsel representing indigent criminal clients.
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