CPCS urges SJC to set higher pay for bar advocates as more than 900 defendants lack counsel

The Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday heard competing arguments over whether courts may order higher pay for private attorneys who accept indigent defense work after a withdrawal of services left what CPCS says is “over 900 people without lawyers.”

Rebecca Jacobstein, counsel for the Committee for Public Counsel Services, told the justices the court has inherent authority to act when the shortage results in a systemic denial of the constitutional right to counsel. “The answer to the first question is a resounding yes,” Jacobstein said. “The courts are the ultimate protectors of constitutional rights. They must protect the right to counsel. They must protect the right to a fair trial, and they must…protect the right to access justice.”

Jacobstein described concrete harms she said arise from delayed appointment of counsel: defendants placed on GPS monitoring or onerous pretrial conditions without an attorney to contest those conditions, lost opportunities to gather evidence or interview witnesses, and a class of defendants who face presumptively prejudicial outcomes because no lawyer was present at critical early stages. She also told the court the LaValle protocol — the court‑created status and dismissal process — was intended as a temporary remedy and has so far not cured the backlog: “We still have over 900 people without lawyers,” she said.

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