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Bristol County Bar Advocates

If you are one of the 2,400 attorneys who accept appointments to represent the indigent in Massachusetts, please read on. The fourtieth anniversary of the landmark Gideon v. Wainright decision was March 18, 2003. The Massachusetts Bar Association sponsored a "Lobby Day", wherein those with an interest in the future of indigent defense in Massachusetts presented materials to our legislative members, seeking fair treatment for the Courts and Bar Advocates. If you did not attend in person, call your elected representatives, fax them, or email them, and tell them your views with respect to fair treatment for the Courts, and for those who are appointed to represent those accused of crimes.

  • To view the Massachusetts historical numbers and attorney workloads , which predict a collapse of the current system in one to three years,
  • To read the FY2002 CPCS Annual Report;
  • To read about the CPCS Compensation Administrative Hearings;
  • The American Bar Association has promulgated Guidelines for Indigent Defense, which the current Massachusetts pay system does not meet. View the ABA Legal Services website, or read the "Ten Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System" The US Department of Justice has published standards for Indigent Defense;
  • John Henry Hingson III's article titled "Tithes that Bind" is published with the permission of the author;
  • A Comparison of the minimum hourly rates paid in each state, for the years 1994, 1999 and 2002, is available.
  • A Legislation proposed to pay interest when the Commonwealth is late paying, and to remove the 10% punitive penalty assessed for "late" bills.
  • Massachusetts pays the least to attorneys, and charges the defendants the most.
  • A Pay Rate Calculator computes either income to the bar advocate for a given rate, or the rate necessary to provide income on a par with a prosecutor.