New York boosts pay for legal defenders of children and the indigent in latest state budget

April 26, 2024 Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

The Family Court at 330 Jay St., where recent budget enhancements will improve compensation for legal defenders representing children and indigent clients, ensuring more robust legal advocacy within these walls. Brooklyn Eagle file photo by Robert Abruzzese

Share this:

The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) has praised the recent state budget approval, which secures increased compensation for 18-B attorneys who represent children and indigent adults in criminal and family courts.

This decision comes after a significant push from the NYSBA, including a lawsuit filed at the end of 2022 to address long-standing inadequate pay rates for these essential legal services.

Previously, lawyers outside New York City received only $60 per hour for misdemeanors and $75 for felonies — rates that had not been raised in nearly two decades. This low compensation led to a shortage of lawyers willing to take on such cases, compromising the quality of legal defense for some of the most vulnerable populations.

“At the end of 2022, the New York State Bar Association filed suit to ensure that children and indigent adults could get meaningful and effective representation in family and criminal courts,” said NYSBA President Richard Lewis. “At the time, lawyers outside of New York City were being paid $60 an hour for a misdemeanor and $75 an hour for a felony, the same amount they had been paid for nearly two decades.

“Failing to pay adequate compensation to represent children and indigent adults was a flagrant violation of the U.S. and New York constitutions. The failure to raise rates had led to fewer attorneys who were willing to take on these matters. Those who remained were overburdened and didn’t have sufficient time to devote to each case.

The 2024-25 state budget rectifies this by setting the pay at $158 per hour for assigned counsel, known as 18-B attorneys. Lewis explained that the previous rates were a “flagrant violation” of both the U.S. and New York constitutions and lauded the governor and the legislature for their commitment to protecting the constitutional rights of these groups.

The NYSBA continues to advocate for state funding for these roles, rather than relying on municipal budgets and is pushing for a mechanism to ensure regular increases to these rates in the future to maintain adequate legal representation for children and indigent adults.