Letter Requesting Bar Advocate raises for the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS)

I am writing to you about my request for Bar Advocate raises for the Committee for  Public Counsel Services (“CPCS”). As you are aware, Bar Advocates are private attorneys who  bill CPCS for providing criminal defense and certain civil legal services to indigent clients. Under current law, Bar Advocates are paid rates that are not commensurate with the important  work that they are doing for the most vulnerable among us. 

I support increasing these rates so that attorneys make a living wage and can pay their  own student loans from college and law school. I also support increased pay for CPCS staff attorneys who are state employees.  

In my role as Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, I have spent a lot of  time learning about the difficulties that Bar Advocates have running a law practice on these low  rates. Jessica LaClair, a Bar Advocate from Northampton, told me, “I am both a solo  practitioner and a single parent of two children, raising a family with one income and no  safety net. The pandemic has only added to these demands as incarcerated clients need help  advocating for healthcare and many attorneys must do this work without childcare.” Jessica focuses her practice on appellate criminal law and other post-conviction proceedings. 

A Bar Advocate constituent, Ellie Hertzberg, told me, “The low rates have caused  many excellent, experienced Bar Advocates to stop doing the work. And that does not  benefit anyone in Massachusetts. A system should be put in place to increase the rates paid  to Bar Advocates now.” Ellie is a trial attorney who practices criminal defense. Her office is in  Maynard, which is in my district.  

Here is a table showing current hourly rates, the hourly rates included in the House  budget, and the hourly rates I sincerely believe are needed to retain and attract qualified Bar  Advocates in the latter right columns:  

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or my staff.  

Sincerely, 

James B. Eldridge 

State Senator