Harrisonburg Daily News

State Bar: Defenders Of The Poor Needn't Get Poverty Wages
Legislators Asked To Give Them A Raise


2006-10-24

By David Reynolds

HARRISONBURG - The state agency that regulates lawyers sent letters to members of the General Assembly this month seeking a raise for defense attorneys who represent indigent defendants in criminal cases.

The letters remind legislators that Virginia's court-appointed attorneys are the lowest-paid in the nation, making it less likely that poor defendants get a fair trial, said Karen A. Gould, president of the Virginia Bar Association.

"The issue is making sure the poor have access to justice just as equally as those with money," Gould said. The low pay also creates an unbalanced system, where defense attorneys have fewer resources than prosecutors, she said.

The letters, sent Oct. 13, call Virginia's current rates for court-appointed attorneys "an embarrassment" that "threatens the noble concept of equal justice for all."

The letters don't suggest a solution but remind legislators of a problem that should be addressed, Gould said.

Earning Caps

Court-appointed defense attorneys earn $90 an hour, but their wages are capped at $120 per charge when representing a client on a misdemeanor, according to a statement from the state bar.

For felony charges punishable by up to 20 years, earnings are capped at $445. The cap for felony charges carrying a sentence of 20 years to life is $1,235, the statement says.

John C. Holloran, who has practiced criminal defense in Harrisonburg for 15 years, says he limited his practice to paying clients in 1995 when he found indigent defense a "losing proposition" financially. Holloran is president of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham County Bar Association. The problem has been created in part, Holloran says, because of a decades-long reluctance of legislators to give raises to lawyers - something that might not look good politically.

"People have to get beyond those issues," he said, "and realize that people who come before the courts [who can't afford an attorney] ought to have qualified people who are being reimbursed at reasonable rates."

No Quick Fix

Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, hasn't reviewed the letter, but as a practicing civil attorney and member of the Senate's Courts of Justice Committee he's familiar with the issue.

He said court-appointed criminal defense attorneys are crucial to an effective justice system, and that their low pay is a "problem that absolutely needs to be addressed."

The current cap system creates an incentive for court-appointed attorneys to resolve cases quickly, even when it's not in their client's best interest, he said.

The long hours necessary to prepare for trial, combined with earning caps mean lawyers sometimes earn as little as $9 an hour - a rate that makes running an office and paying employees difficult, Obenshain said.

The General Assembly has addressed the problem in the past, but proposed legislation has failed to pass the finance committee, he said.

"A fix is going to be expensive," Obenshain said. "And there's a legislative question of, 'How do we do it in a manner that's not going to break the bank?'"

Proposed solutions include increasing the caps or creating public defenders' offices throughout the state, he said.

Some local criminal defense attorneys have suggested giving judges the power to overrule earning caps in certain cases.

Contact David Reynolds at 574-6278 or reynolds@dnronline.com