The state’s public defense agency announced a new incentive program for private lawyers in Massachusetts — effective immediately — to address the growing backlog of unrepresented clients in Middlesex and Suffolk counties.
The Committee for Public Counsel Services announced the new program in an email that aims to stabilize the public defense system in the courts named in a recent court-order requiring the release of defendants without representation after seven days.
The court system currently has thousands of clients statewide without representation as many private defense attorneys, or bar advocates, are refusing to take on new clients, in a fight for higher pay.
Anthony Benedetti, chief counsel for CPCS, said in an email to lawyers that the needs of the thousands waiting in custody are immediate and this program is a short-term solution needed while CPCS continues to advocate for higher pay.
“We remain firmly committed to advocating for higher hourly rates for all panel members and systemic changes that recognize the true value of [bar advocates’] work and the essential role you play in the justice system,” Benedetti said.
The program will last until Nov. 17 or until there are no defendants in Middlesex and Suffolk district and municipal courts awaiting counsel. Currently, there are 2,100 clients without counsel in those counties included in a what is being called the Lavallee protocol, which requires a defendant to be released if they’ve been held for seven days without legal representation and then dismissed without prejudice after 45 days.
CPCS said in the notice that they anticipate this will be the only incentive of its kind offered this fiscal year.
Bar advocates who take part will be assigned five cases from the backlog of unassigned defendants. For those five cases, bar advocates will receive a one-time payment of $2,500 — in addition to their normal hourly rate. The maximum incentive for each bar advocate will be $7,500 for taking on 15 cases.
Some bar advocates feel this isn’t the solution at all.
“It’s a slap in the face to hundreds and hundreds of hardworking bar advocates in the state of Massachusetts,” said Sean Delaney, a long-time bar advocate and partner at Rappaport & Delaney Attorneys at Law in Lowell.
This summer, state lawmakers raised the hourly pay for bar advocates by $20 over two years with a $10 increase in August and another $10 raise in August 2026. That will raise the pay for district court cases to $85 an hour and $140 an hour for murder cases.
By comparison, the hourly rate for bar advocates in Maine is $158; in New Hampshire it’s between $125-$150; and in Rhode Island, the range is $112-$142, according to research by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
Since Memorial Day, many bar advocates have stopped taking new cases as a stand to the pay increase which many feel aren’t enough. But this incentive, Delaney said, could appeal to those who have taken a significant financial hit in the last several months.
In September, bar advocates also began discussions with SEIU Local 888 about unionization.
“My educated guess is they’ll probably get enough to go back in order to reduce the backlog,” he said. “But this does nothing to solve the underlying issue that everyone — in terms of legislature and CPCS — have ignored for decades.”
