Standard Three: Attorney Caseload

American Bar Association, Standards for Criminal Justice, Standard 4-1.2:
A lawyer should not accept more employment than the lawyer can discharge within the spirit of the constitutional mandate for speedy trial and the limits of the lawyer's capacity to give each client effective representation.

American Bar Association, Standards for Criminal Justice, Standard 5-4.3:
Neither defender organizations nor assigned counsel should accept workloads that, by reason of their excessive size, interfere with the rendering of quality representation or lead to the breach of professional obligations. Whenever defender organizations or assigned counsel determine, in the exercise of their best professional judgment, that the acceptance of additional cases or continued representation in previously accepted cases will lead to the furnishing of representation lacking in quality or to the breach of professional obligations, the defender organizations or assigned counsel must take such steps as may be appropriate to reduce their pending or projected workloads.

National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, Task Force on Courts, 1973, Standard 13.12:
The caseload of a public defender office should not exceed the following: felonies per attorney per year: not more than 150; misdemeanors (excluding traffic) per attorney per year: not more than 400; juvenile court cases per attorney peer year: not more than 200; Mental Health Act cases per attorney per year: not more than 200; and appeals per attorney per year: not more than 25.

For purposes of this standard, the term case means a single charge or set of charges concerning a defendant (or other client) in one court in one proceeding. An appeal or other action for postjudgment review is a separate case. If the public defender determines that because of excessive workload the assumption of additional cases or continued representation in previously accepted cases by his office might reasonably be expected to lead to inadequate representation in cases handled by him, he should bring this to the attention of the court. If the court accepts such assertions, the court should direct the public defender to refuse to accept or retain additional cases for representation by his office.

American Bar Association Disciplinary Rule 6-101:
1. A lawyer shall not:
   1. Handle a legal matter which he knows or should know that he is not competent to handle, without associating with him a person who is competent to handle it.
   2. Handle a legal matter without preparation adequate in the circumstances.
   3. Neglect a legal matter entrusted to him.

National Legal Aid and Defender Association Standards for Defender Services, Standard IV-1:
No defender office or defender attorney shall accept a workload which, by reason of the excessive size thereof, threatens to deny clients due process of law or places the office or attorney in imminent danger of violating any ethical canons governing the practice of law.

National Legal Aid and Defender Association Guidelines for Negotiating and Awarding Indigent Legal Defense Contracts, 1983 Draft, Guideline III-5, Allowable Caseloads:
The contract should specify a maximum allowable caseload for each full-time attorney, or equivalent, who handles cases through the contract. Caseloads should allow each lawyer to give every client the time and effort necessary to provide effective representation.

Maximum allowable caseloads for each full-time attorney should not exceed the following:
1. 150 felonies per attorney per year;
2. 300 misdemeanors per attorney per year;
3. 200 juvenile cases per attorney per year;
4. 200 civil commitment cases per attorney per year; and
5. 25 appeals to appellate court hearing a case on the record and briefs per attorney per year.

National Legal Aid and Defender Association Guideline III-12, Case and Work Overload:
The contract should provide that the Contractor may decline to represent clients at no penalty in the event that during the contract:
1. the caseload assigned to the Contractor exceeds the allowable caseloads specified through the process recommended in Guideline III-5; or
2. the Contractor is assigned more cases requiring an extraordinary amount of time and preparation than the Contractor can competently handle even with payment of extraordinary compensation as specified in Guideline III-11; or
3. the cases assigned to the Contractor exceed any number that the contract specified or that the Contractor and Contracting Authority reasonably anticipated at the time the Counteract was concluded.

Seattle-King County Bar Association Indigent Defense Services Task Force Guidelines for Accreditation of Defender Agencies, 1982:
The caseload of agency lawyers should allow each lawyer to give every client the time and effort necessary to ensure effective representation. The agency should not take more cases than can be handled in this manner.
1. The caseload in a defender agency should not exceed the following:
   1. Felonies per attorney per year: not more than 150, or
   2. Misdemeanors per attorney per year: not more than 300, or
   3. Juvenile court cases per attorney per year: not more than 300, or
   4. Appeals (excluding appeals to Superior Court on misdemeanors) per attorney per year: not more than 25.