Caseload Standards for Indigent Defenders in Michigan Final Project Report for the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission
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C O R P O R A T I O N Caseload Standards for Indigent Defenders in Michigan Final Project Report for the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission Nicholas M. Pace, Dulani Woods, Shamena Anwar, Roberto Guevara, Chau Pham, Karin Liu For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR2988 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-1-9774-0341-4 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2019 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface In 2017, the RAND Corporation was asked by the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) for assistance in determining maximum caseload standards for providers of indigent legal representation to adult defendants in the trial-level courts of the state of Michigan. Maximum caseload standards, typically expressed in terms of the number of cases of a particular type that can be reasonably handled by an attorney over the course of a specific time period (such as “no more than 150 felonies in a year”), give administrators of indigent defense programs, the courts that appoint indigent defense counsel, and policymakers who decide on funding allocations for such appointments a useful tool for determining both when caseloads are in danger of being excessive and the number of attorneys that may be needed to handle expected demand. This report is intended to describe the results of work conducted by RAND on behalf of the MIDC. The project team conducted three data collection efforts to provide the empirical foundation for the standards. The first involved a time study of Michigan indigent defense attorneys that was intended to describe the average amount of time such counsel currently spend on trial court–level criminal matters within various case type categories. A survey of criminal defense attorneys followed, in which the results of the earlier time study were presented to participants as evidence of current time expenditures. Informed by those results, respondents then provided their opinions as to the average amount of time that an attorney should plan on spending on a particular type of case to deliver effective assistance of counsel. The final data collection effort was conducted as part of a conference held in September 2018. The purpose of the conference was to have experienced criminal defenders review available evidence regarding the state’s indigent defense bar (including the results of the two earlier data collections) and ultimately reach consensus on recommended average time expenditures for counsel representing indigent defendants in various categories of criminal matters proceeding in the Michigan trial courts. The decisions of the conference participants formed the basis for the recommended maximum caseload standards described in this report. Justice Policy Program RAND Social and Economic Well-Being is a division of the RAND Corporation that seeks to actively improve the health and social and economic well-being of populations and communities throughout the world. This research was conducted in the Justice Policy Program within RAND Social and Economic Well-Being. The program focuses on such topics as access to justice, policing, corrections, drug policy, and court system reform, as well as other policy concerns iii pertaining to public safety and criminal and civil justice. For more information, email [email protected]. iv Contents Preface ........................................................................................................................................... iii Figures .......................................................................................................................................... vii Tables .......................................................................................................................................... viii Summary .......................................................................................................................................... x Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................... xxv Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................. xxvi 1. Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Definitions ................................................................................................................................................. 3 Calculating and Using Maximum Caseload Standards ............................................................................. 3 Approach ................................................................................................................................................... 5 Prior Work in This Area ........................................................................................................................ 5 Rationale Behind the Plan Chosen for the Michigan Caseload Standard Effort ................................. 18 Summary of Key Events ..................................................................................................................... 24 Organization of This Report .................................................................................................................... 26 2. Attorney Time Study ................................................................................................................. 27 The Indigent Attorney “Universe” in Michigan ...................................................................................... 27 Length of the Time Study ........................................................................................................................ 28 The Web-Based Timekeeping Application ............................................................................................. 29 Preliminary Matters ............................................................................................................................. 29 Application Structure .......................................................................................................................... 30 Participation ............................................................................................................................................ 36 Estimating Unobserved Time Expenditures ............................................................................................ 38 Results ..................................................................................................................................................... 42 Average Attorney Hours by Case Type .............................................................................................. 42 Activities ............................................................................................................................................. 46 3. Attorney Survey ......................................................................................................................... 48 Approach ................................................................................................................................................. 48 Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 48 Encouraging Participation ................................................................................................................... 48 Survey Design ..................................................................................................................................... 49 Results ..................................................................................................................................................... 49 Participation ........................................................................................................................................ 49 Activities ............................................................................................................................................. 51 Caseloads ............................................................................................................................................. 54 Office Resources ................................................................................................................................