If an attorney is changing law firms and both the law firm and attorney advise the State Public Defender s Office in writing that the attorney is leaving the firm and what payments up to a specific date should be made to the law firm. All claims must include an Appointment Order. The only exception is if you have been previously paid on a claim you do not need to include an appointment order. Claims for probation violations, parole violations and contempt actions are considered new cases and the attorney must submit a copy of an appointment order for these claims. Services performed prior to your effective date of appointment will not be compensated.
All claims are to be charged to the fiscal year in which the major activities in the case occurred.
Criminal Cases - The date of service is the date the case was dismissed, the client was acquitted or sentenced, the date of a final dispositive hearing, or the date of the attorney s withdrawal from the case. If a motion for reconsideration is filed in a criminal case, the date the court rules on that motion is the date of service. In a juvenile case the date of service is generally the date of the dispositional hearing, the most recent review hearing, the date of dismissal or the date of the attorney s withdrawal from the case. Appellate Cases For non-contract attorneys, this will be the date on which the case is disposed or the date of dismissal. For contract attorneys this date will be the date on which either the page-proof brief or final brief is filed.