The predictable result is an exodus of lawyers from the assigned counsel list.

"I assigned counsel in the normal course," she said.

The ablest of the assigned counsel were thought to have better experience for homicide cases in the early years.

My experience with assigned counsel is favorable - they are dedicated and talented people who do a difficult job.

"He will be assigned counsel and will have every opportunity to make a case for his innocence."

No one is counting the new cases put off, but judges and lawyers say almost none requiring assigned counsel are going forward.

Some work from home, their only other space the grim common rooms designated for assigned counsel in each courthouse.

Beatryx, assigned counsel for the defense, took the floor.

But one afternoon, she and a friend watched proceedings in Family Court at time when poor children were not given assigned counsel.

Good covers are always based on fact, and in reality, there was a prisoner facing charges, though he hadn't yet been assigned counsel.

In fact, some experts say that the assigned counsel system encourages the excessive use of guilty pleas.

Yet, as you point out, the city paid nearly $30 million more for Legal Aid than for assigned counsel.

In some states, judges have refused to lift the maximum limit of less than $1,000 on expert fees for assigned counsel.

Meanwhile, the city has begun to police the assigned counsel claims for reimbursement and support better training for them.

Where assigned counsel is responsible, he or she should be expected to hire a licensed private investigator to scrutinize the evidence.

The lawyers are part of a loosely organized program called the Assigned Counsel Plan.

Most defendants in capital cases are black and they cannot afford legal representation, so they are assigned counsel by the state.

But with the onset of the strike, Assigned Counsel lawyers will presumably once again pick up thousands of new cases.

Because of the inadequate rates paid assigned counsel by New York State, victims are all too often forced to proceed on their own.

Assigned counsel lawyers are paid $40 an hour for courtroom work and $25 an hour for all other legal work in a criminal case.

As a former Legal Aid lawyer, I can attest that he is not alone in distrusting assigned counsel.

The Assigned Counsel Plan was never intended to be a full-time job for any lawyer, but in recent years some have made it their entire practice.

The assigned counsel often performed capably but always lacked the cohesion and discipline of Legal Aid's defender service.

Assigned counsel fees.

To the Editor: It is quite true that the dangerously low rates for assigned counsel in Family Court matters must be raised.