State lawmakers announced a plan Wednesday to boost pay for the private defense lawyers who stopped taking new court-appointed cases more than two months ago.
But they acknowledge there’s no guarantee it will end the labor crisis that’s resulted in the dismissal of dozens of criminal cases.
Some bar advocates, the private attorneys contracted to represent about 80% of the state’s public defense caseload, stopped picking up new cases in late May as they seek a $35-an-hour raise from the state.
A new bill set for votes Thursday offers a $10 hourly raise this year, and $10 more next year.
House budget chief Aaron Michlewitz, one of the bill’s lead authors, said lawmakers hope the bar advocates will accept the deal but don’t know if they will.
“We feel that we’ve landed on a number that is significant, that is sufficient, that’ll hopefully get these folks back to work and hopefully get these cases back in order,” said Michlewitz, a North End Democrat. “But you know, it’s really on them now to come back to work.”
Under the bill, bar advocates’ rates would rise Friday to either $75 or $95 an hour for most case types and $130 for murder cases. The striking attorneys say their pay is far lower than their counterparts in neighboring states and have been asking for $100 an hour.
The lawmakers’ plan would also steer $40 million to the state’s public defender agency, the Committee for Public Counsel Services, to more than double its workforce. They say the money would make it possible to hire 320 new staff public defenders over the next two years, reducing the reliance on bar advocates.
They’re also proposing measures aimed at fending off similar situations down the line. Future agreements among bar advocates to accept new assignments unless they get a pay raise would be considered a violation of the state’s antitrust laws, under the legislation.
Jennifer O’Brien, a bar advocate in Middlesex County, said she doesn’t think the new legislation will resolve the issue.
“Ten dollars is not going to do it,” she told GBH News. “I’m not going back in the District Court for $10. I know there are a lot of attorneys who feel that this is an insult and they’re not going to return to the District Court. I don’t think they have people lined up necessarily to be a CPCS staff attorney, either, so it will be interesting to see who they fill those positions with.”
O’Brien said bar advocates have been seeking a raise for years. She said they take on indigent clients to give back to their community and supplement their regular work, paid at significantly higher market rates.
Bar advocates are independent contractors. Sen. Michael Rodrigues, a Westport Democrat, said the attorneys who are refusing new cases represent a “vast minority” of the bar advocates.
“All the bar advocates in Bristol County are working. I can tell you they are over the moon in support and happy with the 30% increase, $20 per hour increase over the next two years,” Rodrigues told reporters. “It’s up to them, whether or not they want to accept a 30% increase.”
Michlewitz said the boost is “much higher than anybody else in state government’s really seeing right now,” in a tight budget year.
The House and Senate both plan to pass the bill Thursday, sending it to Gov. Maura Healey for review. Healey on Monday said she wanted “to see a resolution to the bar advocate issue immediately.”
