Lawmakers on Wednesday announced a deal to increase pay for attorneys who represent indigent defendants, but at a lower level than bar advocates have been demanding since they stopped taking new cases two months ago.
With the Legislature’s traditional August break quickly approaching, legislative leaders announced an agreement that would boost bar advocate pay by $20 per hour over two years, less than what the private attorneys had been demanding. The Committee for Public Counsel Services will also get an additional $40 million, which lawmakers said will allow it to “more than double its existing workforce” in part to lessen the state’s reliance on bar advocates.
Legislative negotiators wove the raises into a deal on a fiscal year 2025 spending bill that emerged Wednesday afternoon. The underlying legislation (S 2540 / H 4265) included funding for elder care, rental aid, hospitals, and more.
Neither draft featured any language dealing with bar advocate pay, but lawmakers were concerned enough by the crisis to add something brand new during the conference committee process.
The panel met on Wednesday to approve a final deal. The House and Senate could take up the compromise bill and send it to Gov. Maura Healey in sessions planned for Thursday.
Bar Advocates Fact Sheet by Boston 25 Desk on Scribd
Many bar advocates, who are private attorneys contracted to represent defendants who cannot afford legal representation, stopped taking new cases in late May to protest their pay, which is significantly lower than in other New England states.
They demanded raises of $35 per hour, higher than the increases that would flow their way under the deal announced Wednesday.
The labor action has resulted in more than 100 cases being dismissed, in some instances allowing people charged with violent crimes to be released.
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Aaron Michlewitz said the pay increases for private attorneys will cost the state more than $54 million over two years, and that the added funding for CPCS will bring on board about 320 public attorneys.
The bill would also include language aimed at preventing future disruptions by deeming any agreement between bar advocates not to accept new cases unless pay rates are increased to be a violation of antitrust laws.
“No one ever gets 100% of what they ask for, but we think this is a significant step in resolving this issue,” Michlewitz said at a public meeting of the conference committee that unveiled the language.
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