The annual applications for membership in the Erie County Bar Association Aid to Indigent Prisoners Society's Assigned Counsel Program are now available. Attorneys currently active with the Program have already received an application packet directly by mail, or will receive one shortly. Attorneys who are not currently active with the Assigned Counsel Program can pick up an application at the Program's office at 670 Statler Towers , or can call the office at 856-8804 to ask that an application be sent by mail. Applications should be completed and returned as soon as possible, because there is some processing time, as well as a mandatory orientation session, involved before new applicants can become active with the program. The Program provides counsel to poor persons who are either charged with a crime or who are a party in a Family Court matter of the type for which assignment is mandated by law.
State law sets limits on total amounts which can be charged for various types of assigned cases.
Questions can be directed to Robert Lonski, the Assigned Counsel Administrator, or to Nora Diggins, at 856-8804, ext.