DEFENSE ATTORNEY

I.          Right to counsel is one of the defendant’s most important rights
    A.        Gideon v. Wainwright—6th Amendment indigent right to counsel
    B.        Douglas v. California—indigent right to counsel for the first appeal
    C.        In re Gault—extended Gideon to juveniles
    D.        Argersinger v. Hamlin—limits indigent right to counsel only in cases which lead to imprisonment
    E.        Strickland v. Washington—applies objective reasonableness standard to effective counsel
    F.        Faretta v. California—defendant need not have the skills and experience of a lawyer for self-representation
 

II.        Defense attorneys are members of the courtroom work group
    A.        As officers of the court, defense attorneys must fulfill their roles within the boundaries of established legal ethics
    B.        Defense attorneys define winning not by acquittals, but by if the best, realistic and possible outcome is attained
    C.        How defense attorneys act and plan their defense is directly related to their relationship with other members of the courtroom work group
    D.        Defense attorneys are the least powerful members of the courtroom work group
    E.        Three categories of attorneys:
        1.        Defense attorneys who handle few criminal cases
        2.        Defense attorneys who practice criminal law and maintain hostile relationships with prosecutors’ offices (gamblers)
        3.        Defense attorneys (private and public defenders) who work within the system of the courtroom work group

    F.        Studies have shown mixed results on the effectiveness of private vs. public defense attorneys.

 III.       The criminal bar and legal profession are very diversified
    A.        Two hemispheres of criminal practice
        1.        Corporate or organizational
        2.        Personal client sector
            a.        Personal business
            b.        Personal plight (divorce, tort, etc.)
        3.        The majority of attorneys who appear in criminal court are from the personal client sector
    B.        Factors affecting the availability of lawyers to represent criminal
defendants
        1.        Low status
        2.        Difficulty in securing clients
        3.        Low fees
    C.        Clientele
        1.        The criminal lawyer’s most important commodity in securing clients is reputation
        2.        Three most important considerations in setting fees:
            a.        Seriousness of the offense
            b.        Amount of time necessary to deal with the case
            c.        Client’s ability to pay

 IV.       There are three methods of providing indigents with attorneys:
    A.        Assigned counsel
        1.        Involves appointment from a list of available private attorneys
        2.        Used in half of all U.S. counties, but serves less than a third of population
        3.        Predominant in small counties with less than 50,000 residents, usually lacking the caseload to necessitate a public defender system
    B.       Contract systems
        1.        Involves bidding by private attorneys to represent all indigent defendants for a fixed payment
        2.        Also found in countries with less than 50,000 residents and fixed budget constraints
        3.        Limits government costs for indigent defense
        4.        Several state supreme courts have legal defects in contract systems
    C.        Public defenders
        1.        Salaried public officials to represent indigent defendants
        2.        Started in Los Angeles in 1914
        3.        Today represents 70% of all defendants nationwide
        4.        Predominates in big cities 

V.        The lawyer-client relationship has many dimensions
    A.        Privileged communications
        1.         Statements made by a client to his or her attorney are considered privileged and protected
        2.        The attorney-client privilege extends to statements made by the client, and to any work product or evidence developed while representing the client
    B.        Lawyer-client relationship
        1.         In civil litigation, the lawyer-client relationship is often characterized by trust and full disclosure
        2.         In criminal law, the lawyer-client relationship is often characterized by distrust and hostility
    C.        Lawyers’ view of clients
        1.        Refusal to cooperate, deception, and dishonesty pose serious problems for defense attorneys
        2.        Defendant’s lack of honesty and candor greatly complicates the attorney’s job
        3.        Private attorneys find their advice accepted more often than court appointed lawyers
    D.        Clients’ view of lawyers
        1.        Part of the breakdown of trust is the lack of one-to-one contact
        2.        Most public defender’s offices are organized on a zone basis in which different attorneys handle different stages of processing