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Criminal Law, Practice & Policy

Is There A Malpractice Action a-Comin’?

February 22, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

Many attorneys who practice criminal law believe that their malpractice exposure is minimal.  After all, it’s hard to show that it’s more likely than not that a client would have avoided conviction but for the attorney’s negligence – it only because it’s so hard to predict what juries might do.  But after reading this article, [...]

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Alabama Court Appointed Attorneys May Strike

February 22, 2005 by Carolyn Elefant

We’ve already had a lengthy discussion over the reasonableness of $30-$40/hour court appointed rates back here. Now, there’s an interesting development relating to court appointed rates out of Alabama as reported in  Lawyers for Poor Threaten Walkout, David Holden,  Huntsville Times (2/22/05).  According to the article, the state currently pays attorneys for indigent criminal clients [...]

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A Perspective on the Lynne Stewart Trial

December 5, 2004 by Carolyn Elefant

By Mark Sindler A rather lengthy criminal prosecution in a Manhattan federal courtroom is nearing its end after having begun in June 2004. It has notoriety if only because the lead defendant is a well-known (at least in New York City) and very capable criminal defense attorney. Her name is Lynne Stewart, and even though [...]

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What’s A Fair Rate for Court Appointed Counsel?

November 30, 2004 by Carolyn Elefant

Over at  David Giacalone’s web log, there’s more coverage of the situation with Massachusetts court appointed attorneys.  In case you missed David’s prior coverage (which he links back to extensively in his post), a group of Massachusetts court appointed criminal attorneys first initiated a boycott to protest $30/hr fees (now raised to $37.50) and now [...]

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