Assigned Counsel Panel Attorney

Location

Criminal Courts: throughout Erie County (you pick the individual courts in which you want to practice)

Family Court: single building in downtown Buffalo

Job Type

Independent contractor. You control how many cases you accept.

Practice Areas

• Criminal: Daytime and nighttime courts
• Family Court: a daytime court where all the assignments are returnable in the Family Court building in downtown Buffalo.

Rate

New York's statutory rate is $158 per hour (County Law Article 18-b, §722-b).

Case Management and Pay

• Attorneys are provided with an online case management system for vouchering, time management, and online document storage.
• At the conclusion of a case, an attorney finalizes their time and issues a voucher.
• Payment is issued via direct deposit; usually within 30 to 60 days.
• Option: divert a portion or all the payment to a retirement savings account.
• In 2024, attorneys handling misdemeanors billed an average of 204 hours.

Federal PSLF

Panel attorneys are eligible to apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Support

New attorneys are assigned to an attorney-mentor for support and guidance during their first year.

Criminal Panel Support and Growth

• After you develop experience handling misdemeanors, there are abundant opportunities for growth.
• Qualifying for a higher panel will commence with a fulsome felony training program and work as a "second chair"; it will also come with the support of an attorney-mentor for that panel.
• Panels include:
  • DWI Defense panel
  • Parole panel
  • D/E, C and A/B Felony Panels
  • Homicide panel
  • IDV panel
  • Adolescent Offender panel
  • Appeals and Post Conviction panel
  • SORA panel
  • Additional support: social worker assistance for your client, investigators on criminal matters, mitigation support to counter a Department of Probation sentencing recommendation, case conferences with experienced Program staff attorneys, litigation support for briefs and motions, CLE training, and the Program will fund your case expert(s) (subject to pre-approval).

Family Court Panel Support and Growth

• New panel members are provided significant support by an assigned mentor plus direct supervision by a Program staff attorney.
• New panel members are accompanied to court appearances.
• New panel members meet regularly with Program staff attorneys and mentors regarding the progress of their cases.
• Mentors and Program staff attorneys are available to answer any questions that arise, provide motion templates, and assist in any way possible.
• New panel members are shadowed for several months in Family Court until the panel member and the supervision team agree that the panel member is prepared to work unassisted.
• Generally, new panel members work on Article 6 (Custody/Visitation) and Article 8 (Family Offense) matters.
• There is opportunity for growth: progressing to Article 4 matters (Support Violations) and eventually a panel member may be invited to join the Article 10 panel (Abuse/Neglect cases).
• Additional support: Program social workers available to aid your client, case conferences with experienced Program staff attorneys, litigation support for briefs and motions, CLE training, and the Program will fund your case expert(s) (subject to pre-approval).

Application

Apply at

Training

For either the Family Court or Criminal panels, there is classroom training and guidance with an experienced attorney.

Questions

• Michelle Parker, Executive Director/Chief Defender – View email address on click.appcast.io
• Kevin Stadelmaier, First Deputy Defender – Criminal – View email address on click.appcast.io
• Lori Hoffman, Deputy for Quality Assurance – Criminal – View email address on click.appcast.io
• David Heraty, Deputy for Litigation and Appellate Support – Criminal – View email address on click.appcast.io
• Matt Powers, Deputy for CLE and Training – Criminal – View email address on click.appcast.io
• Yvonne Vertlieb, Second Deputy Defender – Family Court – View email address on click.appcast.io
• Kevin Condon, Deputy for Child Welfare – Family Court – View email address on click.appcast.io
• Mary Beth DePasquale, Deputy for Litigation and Appellate Support – Family Court – View email address on click.appcast.io