73. ABA, Guidelines on Contribution Fees for Costs of Counsel in Criminal Cases , Guideline 2, available at http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/downloads/sclaid/indigentdefense/rec110.pdf (last visited Mar. 2, 2009). 74. Id. at Guideline 6. 75. Id. 76. A number of states also have established caseload standards. See U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Keeping Defender Workloads Manageable (Jan. 2001), available at http://www.ncjrs.org/pdf- files1/bja/185632.pdf (last visited Mar. 2, 2009). 77. Statement available at http://www.nlada.org/DMS/Documents/1189179200.71/EDITEDFINALVERSIONACCDCASE- LOADSTATEMENTsept6.pdf (last visited Mar. 2, 2009). 78. See Keeping Defender Workloads Manageable , supra , n. 76, at 10. 79. See ACCD Statement, supra. n. 76. 80. Abdon M. Pallasch, Call to Limit Cases Amuses Public Defenders , C HI . S UN T IMES (July 24, 2006), at 18; Erik Eckholm, Cit- ing Workload Public Lawyers Reject New Cases , N.Y. T IMES (Nov. 8, 2008), at A1 (noting Miami misdemeanor public defenders have approximately 2,400 cases). Regarding Miami, according to documents filed in court, the defender office in Dade County had 21 mis- demeanor attorneys in 2006-07. By the 2006-07 fiscal year, those attorneys handled 46,888 new cases (2,232 per attorney). By the 2007 calendar year, they handled 50,115 cases (2,386 per attorney). 81. Kentucky Department of Public Advocate, Realizing Justice , Defender Caseload Report Fiscal Year 2007 , at 5, available at http://apps.dpa.ky.gov/library/DefenderCaseloadReport07.pdf (last visited Mar. 2, 2009). 82. Grant County’s public defense services have been under the supervision of the court system following the settlement of a law- suit alleging systemic deficiencies in felony representation. The caseload information is derived from monthly reports to the county com- missioners by the attorney who supervises the defense contractors pursuant to the settlement. Reports were made available through a public disclosure request. 83. This schedule would require working more than 2,300 hours per year, far in excess of even the billable hours required by large civil defense law firms in most major cities. National Association for Law Placement, Billable Hours Requirements at Law Firms, NALP B ULLETIN (May 2006) (“Although billable hour requirements ranged from 1,400 to 2,400 hours per year in 2004, most offices reporting a minimum require either 1,800 or 1,900 hours (24 percent and 21 percent of offices, respectively).”). The Washington De- fender Association standards recommend 1,650 billable hours per year. See Washington Defender Association, Standards for Public De- fense Services, Standard Three, Commentary. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has advised agencies that of the 2,088 hours attributable on an annual basis to a federal employee, each employee works only 1,744 hours per year, which reflects hours worked after the average amount of annual, sick, holiday, and administrative leave used. Performance of Commercial Activities , OMB Cir. No. A-76 (Revised) (Aug. 1983), at p. IV-8. 84. Opinion, It’s a Fiction that Secrecy Is Good in Dealing with Kids, T HE C OURIER -J OURNAL (July 16, 2008). 85. Brandon Ortiz, Public Defenders Sue State Over Funding, L EXINGTON H ERALD -L EADER (July 1, 2008). 86. M ODEL R ULESOF P ROFESSIONAL C ONDUCT , Rule 1.1; see also A RIZ . E THICAL R ULE , Rule 1.1.; A RK . D ISCIPLINARY R ULESOF P RO - FESSIONAL C ONDUCT , Rule 1.1. 87. Ariz. Ethics Op. 90-10 (1990), at 6, available at http://www.myazbar.org/ethics/pdf/90-10.pdf. 88. Id. at 8. 89. Unless specifically cited, facts for this story were taken from the Ohio Court of Appeals decision. Ohio v. Jones , Case No. 2008- P-0018 (Ohio Ct. App. Dec. 31, 2008), available at http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/11/2008/2008-ohio-6994.pdf (last vis- ited Mar. 16, 2009). 90. Milan Simonich, Contempt Upheld for Ohio Public Defender, P ITTSBURGH P OST -G AZETTE (Aug. 25, 2007). 91. Ohio v. Jones , supra . n. 89. 92. ABA Ethics Op. 06-441, available at http://www.abanet.org/cpr/pubs/ethicopinions.html#06441 (last visited Mar. 2, 2009). The American Council of Chief Defenders came to a similar conclusion in 2003: A chief executive of an agency providing public defense services is ethically prohibited from accepting a number of cases which exceeds the capacity of the agency’s attorneys to provide competent, quality representation in every case. The elements of such representation encompass those prescribed in national performance standards includ- ing the NLADA Performance Guidelines for Criminal Defense Representation and the ABA Defense Function Standards. When confronted with a prospective overloading of cases or reductions in funding or staffing which will cause the agency’s attorneys to exceed such capacity, the chief executive of a public defense agency is ethically re- quired to refuse appointment to any and all such excess cases. ACCD Ethics Opinion 03-01 (2003), available at http://www.nlada.org/DMS/Documents/1082573112.32/ACCD%20Ethics%20opin- ion%20on%20Workloads.pdf (last visited Mar. 16, 2009). 93. See id. at 6. 94. Ariz. Ethics Op. 90-10, supra. n. 87. 95. In re Matter of Robert Pinto Public Defender San Benito County (Cal. State Bar Court Case No. 93-O-10027). 96. Id.
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Minor Crimes, Massive Waste
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