Standard:

Contracts for public defense representation with private attorneys or firms shall set limits on the amount of privately retained work which can be accepted by the contracting attorney. These limits shall be based on the percentage of a full-time caseload which the public defense cases represent.

Related Standards:

American Bar Association, Standards for Criminal Justice, 4-1.2(d), 5-3.2.

National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, Task Force on Courts, 1973, Standard 13.7.

National Legal Aid and Defender Association, Standards for Defender Services, Standard III-3 and IV-1.

National Legal Aid and Defender Association, Guidelines for Negotiating and Awarding Indigent Legal Defense Contracts, 1984, Guideline III-6.

Commentary:

The potential for conflict of interest exists if public defense attorneys also maintain private law practices. Where part-time private practice is permitted, the attorneys may be tempted to increase their total income by devoting their energies to private practice at the expense of their non-paying clients.

Where rural settings or small caseloads make full-time public defense impractical, the contracting authority should set clear standards for the performance of duties and should limit the total number of cases assigned. The caseload limit should be based on the percentage of time the lawyer devotes to public defense.