Earlier this year CPCS–the state agency in charge of court-appointed criminal defense attorneys–filed an emergency petition with the SJC seeking, in part, an increase in bar advocate payment.
Such petitions are heard by a single justice who can, in his or her discretion, send the matter to the full panel of justices.
Last week the single justice who received the CPCS petition ordered the parties to submit a brief regarding whether the pay-raise issue should be put before the full SJC.
The pertinent section of the order states,
I order the parties, including the SCDA, to file with this court by September 8, 2025, briefs and a joint statement of undisputed facts addressing whether I should reserve and report this issue to the full court in the following form or in some other form: “In light of the scope of the present shortage of available defense counsel in the District Courts of Middlesex and Suffolk County and in the Boston Municipal Court, whether and under what circumstances the single justice or any justice of any trial court department is authorized to order increased compensation rates beyond those provided in G. L. c. 211D, § 11 (a), for attorneys accepting representation of indigent criminal defendants.” The joint statement of facts shall include any agreed facts deemed by the parties relevant to the above question, including any facts: (a) as to the present scope of the attorney shortage, including the percentages of duty days filled in the Courts for the coming months; (b) as to any case where a judge has ordered an increased compensation rate, and (c) as to any effects of the recent legislation, including whether the increased compensation provided for bar advocates by the new legislation is effecting or will effect any return to work by bar advocates, and including any increase or planned increases in the numbers of CPCS staff attorneys.
To follow the petition in the SJC, enter the case number SJ-2025-0244 in the Appellate Courts’ online search.