Lawyer Shortage Said Hurting Defendants

[Rose Siding]

BOSTON -- The state's highest court ruled Wednesday that a shortage of defense lawyers caused by low pay is violating the constitutional rights of some indigent defendants, and said criminal cases must be dismissed against those who go without a lawyer for more than 45 days.

The Supreme Judicial Court, ruling in a long-simmering dispute over the rate of pay for private lawyers who represent poor defendants, also ruled that criminal defendants cannot be held more than seven days in jail without a lawyer.
...
In its ruling, the court noted that the $30-per-hour pay for lawyers who represent indigent defendants in district court has barely changed over the last two decades and is among the lowest in the country.

"The continuation of what is now an unconstitutional state of affairs cannot be tolerated," the court said in its ruling. "Our duty is to remedy an ongoing violation of a fundamental constitutional right to counsel consistently with the government's legitimate right to protect the public's safety."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-lawyers-pay,0,2110303.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[MikeG]

1. You hear that - not enough lawyers - I agree.

[Trillo]

2. Eliminate some of the drug cases,

like use and possession, and there won't be as much need for public-defense lawyers.

[geek tragedy]

3. But, trial lawyers are EVIL!

Dick and W say so.

[teryang]

4. But "homeland security" investigators and

...intelligence analysts with no language skills are paid two to four times as much as government lawyers.

This is the priorty of the police state.

[Langis]

5. $30 per hour! And that's low?!?!?

Guess I should goto law school.

[SangamonTaylor]

6. Thousands in student loans to pay off

Most laws schools have tuition that is so high, that students are practically required to take out massive amounts in student loans.

I'm lucky. I'm graduating next May with only 60 thousand dollars to pay off. I go to a public school that is a great deal (Houston Law Center), and I've worked (at good jobs) throughout the past two years.

However, I have friends that are looking at 90-120k to pay off once they graduate. At $30/hour, it's very difficult for someone to pay off major amounts of loans and live a normal life. At least...it's difficult to make that decision when private firms pay so well. I hear that some federal agencies will relieve a certain amount of loans as long as the graduate commits for 2 years of work.

[Langis]

10. That is good to know

I am really considering it, but I need to find a way to work and goto law school. That is going to be hard =). I still have 2 years till I graduate so I have some time to think about it.

[jdj]

11. My sis owes the same amount.

She's 36, (not an attorney, though) and keeps going back to school and getting little degrees for work to get the loans deferred.

Reagan started fcking everything up in 87 and it hasn't been the same since.

[depakid]

7. Overhead-

You think lawyers operate all by themselves? A few do that- but most need office space, a receptionist, at least one legal assistant/paralegal and they have to pay large malpractice insurance premiums.

Do the math- $30 per hour barely covers expenses.

[HuckleB]

8. Actually, I'm not sure if most of these have such overhead expenses.

In many areas, those positions are not paid by a defense lawyer as one of his or her employees. And offices are often not a part of the expenses, as they are provided. Still, it appears that $30 an hour is low by comparison to other areas, as well. So there's little wonder about this local shortage.

[jdj]

12. I have a friend who got her law degree but doesn't practice,

because she said if she works for someone else it's 80 hrs a week for shit pay and she can't afford to go private practice.

[HuckleB]

16. Of course that all depends on how one does it.

I suspect there are more reasons than that for her not practicing. I know many attorneys who never practiced or quickly got out, simply because the culture they found drove them nuts or their scruples couldn't survive the reality of the court system, what have you.

[depakid]

13. Associates with Metropolitan Public Defenders in Portland

don't have to pay those expenses, but private attorneys- or the firms that they work for do. I'm sure that reimbursement structures vary- some provide costs for assistants and investigators on indigent cases, but those costs are probably also billed well below the going rate and are also probably capped.

In any event, such a low hourly fee requires that lawyers take extremely heavy caseloads, which as a practical matter puts defendants in a position where they end up pleading to a charge when the evidence is weak or they are in fact innocent. Some people don't have a problem with that- but as I've often said- convicting an an innocent means that the real perpetrator is still on the streets....

[HuckleB]

15. As I noted, the rate in question is the culprit in this local shortage.

However, Portland attorneys aren't getting this low rate, and I don't know any local attorney who is hurting, regardless of the type of practice.

[Langis]

9. I was being sarcastic

:evilgrin:

[chrisesq]

14. It may sound like quite a bit, however,

those in private practice typically have a %40 overhead. So that figures into $18 per hour. It may even be a higher percentage in a city like Boston.

So lawyers who have spent a minimum of 7 years of school (post high school), have a doctorate, taken the bar exam and passed, have to pay to maintain that license through expensive continuing legal education, pay for malpractice insurance(which often is not covered by the overhead), pay for expensive research materials and are often owing $50 to $100 thousand in student loans are now making $36 thousand per year. Furthermore, most small firms do not pay for health insurance or offer any 401k type of incentive.

I wonder why there is a shortage of people wanting to put themselves in a bind like that.

[teryang]

17. Good post

Most people don't have a clue about the law business.

Only corporations and the wealthy can afford lawyers. That's the way it is. If you're self employed as an attorney and not making $125 an hour (that's gross)for services, you might as well fold. Keep in mind that not all time is billable. Self employed have to spend time on six different functions, management (bookeeping, calendar and supervision), training, advertising, networking, client handling, and then the legal work, (which includes research, drafting and court appearances). Anyone who can do it ethically deserves every cent. Anyone who thinks it can be done for $30 an hour is out of their minds. I think my state pays $3500 for a death penalty trial to outside counsel. What a joke! That's 28 hours in real attorney time. The trial alone will be at least 28 hours. Most lawyers charge $200 and up for trial time. That's $5600 right there. Then figure (not including expenses) 2 hours prep time for every hour in the court room. That's another 5600 at only $100 an hour. What type of defense do you get for $30 an hour?