Court-appointed lawyers: Red tape blocks new funds

By TASHA KATES

Published: July 14, 2008

More money has been made available to pay court-appointed lawyers, but most aren't applying for it. In the year after the General Assembly set aside $8.2 million to supplement the lawyers' capped compensation, only $1 million has been paid out. According to some Charlottesville-area lawyers, getting the money is a hassle.

When the funds were first offered, local lawyer Kelly Hobbs started filling out the applications for her court-appointed cases. Although the cases make up about half of her workload, Hobbs didn't continue to apply for the compensation.

"Initially the judges were not authorizing the [compensation cap] waivers, but eventually the word got around that they wanted them to be authorized," Hobbs said. "I did start filling out the sheets in July, but it didn't last very long. I didn't have an extra 20 minutes to fill out three forms to only have them mailed back."

Hobbs said the forms were returned back to her if she forgot a number or didn't check off a box, adding months to the process of getting paid.

Court-appointed attorneys are eligible to apply for an additional $120 per misdemeanor or juvenile charge, $155 per lower felony charge and $850 per serious felony charge. Earlier this month, an additional $650 became available for juvenile court cases that could be punishable by 20 years to life in an adult court.

Lawyers are eligible to apply if the case required additional time or effort or if it presented "novel and difficult issues," according to the state.

Charlottesville defense lawyer Michael Hallahan knows about the funds, but he refuses to apply. "They need to take out all of the money and stick in the General Fund and raise the caps," Hallahan said. "It's creating more bureaucracy."

Hallahan represents clients in 12 localities in Central Virginia, including the Charlottesville area. He said he usually receives "satisfactory" pay when handling cases involving multiple misdemeanors, and that he usually does more work than he's paid for when handling felony cases with only a few charges.

After a case has concluded, court-appointed lawyers must turn in a timesheet showing the hours they've worked on the case. They receive $120 per misdemeanor or juvenile charge, $445 per felony charge that carries a prison sentence less than 20 years and $1,235 per felony charge that can result in a prison sentence between 20 years and life.

That's supposed to balance out to $90 an hour, but if the lawyers take on time-consuming cases that don't involve many charges, they may end up doing work for free. The court-appointed lawyers make much less than retained criminal lawyers, who make several hundred dollars more in general district court and thousands more in circuit court than do their appointed counterparts, Hobbs said.

Lawyers receive no additional benefits for doing court-appointed work. Hobbs said she and her fellow lawyers add themselves to the court-appointed list because they believe indigent people should have access to counsel.

"People stay in it because they enjoy it and because these people need help," Hobbs said. "Logic would tell you that you'd get more effort if you paid for it, but that's not true in this business. "Betsy Wells Edwards, director of the Virginia Fair Trial Project, said the General Assembly has made $4.2 million available for waivers this fiscal year; the amount will increase to $6.2 million on July 1, 2009. She said her agency will visit local bar association meetings this fall and inform lawyers about the available funds.

"The money is appropriated for this, not for anything else," Edwards said. "If they feel like they deserve more, then they need to ask for it."