The attorney count is dropping for those who will take on poor criminal defendants in one eastern state's three biggest counties. A legislative committee was told today that it was about to reach a critical point. The judges of the three big counties claimed that the rates of pay per hour for attorneys who willingly handle the cases of indigent criminal defendants must be raised, and possibly even doubled, from the present low rates. 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. The list is shrinking and most are removing their names simply because of the money issue. According to this judge, because the lawyers aren't getting paid enough for those kinds of cases, and as a result poor people will not have the experienced counsel necessary to have a fair chance. His suggestion is that the billable hourly rate be increased by 100 percent. More lucrative work is available to the lawyers, such as drafting wills and deed, and working on handing law suits. It is not right to anticipate that lawyers will choose to forfeit a great amount of money in working on behalf of the state, the judge further claimed. Some lawyers lose more money than others; the large majority of the state's criminal cases require court appointed lawyers. Budget cuts twenty years ago caused the state to reduce the attorney fees paid in indigent cases. Both in court and out of court fees were drastically reduced. The rates from twenty years ago are basically the same as they are today. One judge suggested a return to the rates, at least, as he supported his peer. Due to the large number of attorneys who are declining to serve as volunteers, he stated that his court is on the verge of experiencing a major crisis. His theory is that if pay rates were put back to the prior level, some of the lawyers who have left will return, and some that might have left soon may remain. They are pleased with the current system, except that they think the attorneys need to be paid more money. A very small percentage of the three hundred practicing attorneys in one county are willing to take indigent cases. The percentage is getting smaller and smaller. Over ninety percent of the lawyers who won't take the cases anymore cite economic reasons. One district has about 1/4 of the practicing attorneys who will consider doing indigent work. The original list has lost even more members, causing that number to slip further. 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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The attorney count is dropping for those who will take on poor criminal defendants in one eastern state's three biggest counties. A legislative committee was told today that it was about to reach a critical point. Judges from those counties recommended hourly rates be doubled to pay the attorneys who will represent the poor clients.
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