Standard:

The legal representation plan shall include a method to respond promptly to client complaints. Complaints should first be directed to the attorney, firm or agency which provided representation. If the client feels that he or she has not received an adequate response, the contracting authority or public defense administrator should designate a person or agency to evaluate the legitimacy of complaints and to follow up meritorious ones. The complaining client should be informed as to the disposition of his or her complaint within one week.

Related Standards:

The American Bar Association, Standards for Criminal Justice, 4-5.1 and 4-5.2.

Commentary:

The nature of public defense work may give rise to client complaints about the attorney's handling of the case. Defendants are often in extreme circumstances, sometimes awaiting trial in jail; their employment and family lives have been severely disrupted, and their expectations of what legal counsel can accomplish may not be realistic.

It is essential that local governments develop a means to respond to client complaints promptly and to investigate and act on meritorious complaints. Many complaints may be unfounded or minor, but clients deserve a respectful hearing and a prompt response. The follow up on client complaints may also alert contracting authorities to persistent problems with a particular attorney or firm or a problem in the system of delivering services.

Under the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice, defense attorneys have the professional obligation to keep clients advised at all stages of the legal proceeding. Unfortunately, the high level of caseloads handled by public defense attorneys often limits the frequency of attorney-client contacts. Studies on client satisfaction have shown that indigent clients can have a significant lack of trust in their attorneys, in large part because they were not kept fully informed about developments in their case. Local jurisdictions investigating client complaints need to be sensitive to the special nature of the attorney-client relationship and to be aware of the workload demands faced by public defense attorneys. Funding levels which permit adequate communication with clients will help reduce the number of complaints.