For the Defense
Criminal Defense Lawyers-Private
A number of lawyers specialize in defending citizens accused of crimes. In contrast to civil trial lawyers who try very few cases, gutsy criminal defense attorneys try hundreds of cases over the course of a career. Like members of any profession, criminal defense lawyers vary widely in ability, skill, experience, aggressiveness and success.
That a lawyer graduated from an accredited -- or even a prestigious -- law school is no guarantee that he possesses the minimum skills necessary to competently defend a citizen accused of a crime. There is, therefore, no more important task for the accused than to select an accomplished trial lawyer from the many lawyers willing to accept the fee.
Court Appointed Private Lawyers
Court appointed lawyers – private lawyers accepting court appointed clients – work for as little as $30.00 per hour and are forced to accept more clients than they can be reasonably expected to adequately represent. Many, unable to afford support staff, are overwhelmed. Their ability to successfully defend a client can be compromised. In contrast, the “top dogs” are usually highly skilled trial lawyers with the time, resources and passion to devote their clients’ cases.
With few exceptions, only those lawyers fresh out of law school or those lawyers who cannot attract paying clients, accept court-appointed work. The poor are, therefore, usually represented by the least capable lawyers. This problem was recently highlighted in a Boston Globe editorial:
"By law in Massachusetts, the Committee for Public Counsel Services provides lawyers for poor people in criminal and civil cases. Two groups of attorneys do this work: 115 public defenders and 2,600 private lawyers who act as assigned counsel. Their caseloads include murder and child abuse cases, and they represent mentally ill and retarded clients. In fiscal year 2001 they handled 269,000 cases statewide.
"Sadly, low salaries and state funding cuts are driving lawyers away. The starting salary for public defenders is $33,000. That's lower than Connecticut's starting salary of $45,250 and lower than the $35,829 that Massachusetts pays to Department of Social Service social workers."
–Boston Sunday Globe, 14 July 2002
Criminal Defense Lawyers-Public Defender's Office
The Committee for Public Counsel Services, an agency of the state government, employs staff lawyers to represent the indigent accused of indictable offenses. Their pay is comparable to that of the assistant district attorneys. Like other government employees, they enjoy few perks and often carry difficult workloads. While the turnover is always high, some of the older lawyers employed by C.P.C.S. are very talented and impressively carry on the daily battle against the system.
