Children and adults in certain family proceedings and all criminal defendants have a constitutional right to counsel. Despite a historic commitment to provision of counsel for children and indigent litigants, the system of appointed counsel in New York City is in crisis. Up to fifty parents are turned away from Family Court each week because no lawyer can be found to represent them. Criminal defendants wait years for overburdened defense lawyers to be available for trial.
Attorneys have inadequate time and resources to prepare their assigned cases.
These rates, the second lowest paid by any state, have not been changed since 1986. At the same time, the need has increased dramatically. As fewer attorneys stretch to satisfy a growing need, those still willing to accept appointments handle caseloads far too burdensome to permit them to adequately represent their clients. In New York County, for example, eighteen of the attorneys handling assigned cases had 150 or more felony cases assigned to them in the year 1998 alone. While defendants refuse to raise the rates to a level which will insure the availability of effective counsel, officials on all sides of the family and criminal courts agree such a change is overdue.