Story at Philly.com. (h/t: ABA Journal) Excerpt:
The Nutter administration is poised to pay $9.5 million to hire a private law firm to represent the poor in cases where the public defender has a conflict, despite the protests of the Philadelphia Bar Association, City Council members, and many of the private attorneys who now handle indigent clients.
In recent years, court-appointed attorneys have taken as many as 27,000 cases that the Defender Association of Philadelphia could not.
Typically, less than a fourth of those cases are criminal matters. The majority are dependency cases in Family Court, where attorneys represent parents and children dealing with abuse and neglect and the issues of parental rights.
The clients, regardless of the type of case, often struggle with poverty, mental illness, and drug addiction.
Opponents of the administration's plan raise a host of objections, most centered on the fear that a private law firm would put profits before clients.
The Nutter administration is poised to pay $9.5 million to hire a private law firm to represent the poor in cases where the public defender has a conflict, despite the protests of the Philadelphia Bar Association, City Council members, and many of the private attorneys who now handle indigent clients.
In recent years, court-appointed attorneys have taken as many as 27,000 cases that the Defender Association of Philadelphia could not.
Typically, less than a fourth of those cases are criminal matters. The majority are dependency cases in Family Court, where attorneys represent parents and children dealing with abuse and neglect and the issues of parental rights.
The clients, regardless of the type of case, often struggle with poverty, mental illness, and drug addiction.
Opponents of the administration's plan raise a host of objections, most centered on the fear that a private law firm would put profits before clients.
Karen Deanna Williams, considered one of the city's deans of dependency work, called the administration's proposal "unseemly."
"How do you take the representation of that vulnerable population and make it a for-profit enterprise?" she asked. "These people are going to be irreparably harmed if this goes through. The system is going to collapse."
The Nutter administration is poised to pay $9.5 million to hire a private law firm to represent the poor in cases where the public defender has a conflict, despite the protests of the Philadelphia Bar Association, City Council members, and many of the private attorneys who now handle indigent clients.
In recent years, court-appointed attorneys have taken as many as 27,000 cases that the Defender Association of Philadelphia could not.
Typically, less than a fourth of those cases are criminal matters. The majority are dependency cases in Family Court, where attorneys represent parents and children dealing with abuse and neglect and the issues of parental rights.
The clients, regardless of the type of case, often struggle with poverty, mental illness, and drug addiction.
Opponents of the administration's plan raise a host of objections, most centered on the fear that a private law firm would put profits before clients.
Karen Deanna Williams, considered one of the city's deans of dependency work, called the administration's proposal "unseemly."
"How do you take the representation of that vulnerable population and make it a for-profit enterprise?" she asked. "These people are going to be irreparably harmed if this goes through. The system is going to collapse."
The Nutter administration is poised to pay $9.5 million to hire a private law firm to represent the poor in cases where the public defender has a conflict, despite the protests of the Philadelphia Bar Association, City Council members, and many of the private attorneys who now handle indigent clients.
In recent years, court-appointed attorneys have taken as many as 27,000 cases that the Defender Association of Philadelphia could not.
Typically, less than a fourth of those cases are criminal matters. The majority are dependency cases in Family Court, where attorneys represent parents and children dealing with abuse and neglect and the issues of parental rights.
The clients, regardless of the type of case, often struggle with poverty, mental illness, and drug addiction.
Opponents of the administration's plan raise a host of objections, most centered on the fear that a private law firm would put profits before clients.
Karen Deanna Williams, considered one of the city's deans of dependency work, called the administration's proposal "unseemly."
"How do you take the representation of that vulnerable population and make it a for-profit enterprise?" she asked. "These people are going to be irreparably harmed if this goes through. The system is going to collapse."