Criminal Law - Defense Attorney in American Falls, ID

Government

American Falls, ID

Criminal Law - Defense Attorney in American Falls, ID

Attorney

No

Job Title: Contract Attorneys

Job Responsibilities:
- Provide primary and conflict public defense cases across the state.
- Deliver high-quality legal representation to indigent Idahoans.
- Accept or decline cases, allowing flexibility to mix private and public cases.
- Handle various case types including felony, misdemeanor, juvenile, child protection, and post-conviction.
- Work with District Public Defenders and executive staff at the State Public Defender office.
- Use the LegalServer CMS to manage cases and log time spent on each case.
- Provide representation in Child Protection cases where there is a finding of indigency.
- Ensure Constitutional representation in all contract cases.
- Track time in LegalServer in 6-minute or 1/10th of an hour increments to determine pay and resource needs.
- Handle conflict cases and represent clients in areas without institutional offices.

Education and Experience Information:
- Attorneys must have a contract with the State of Idaho to do public defense work by October 1, 2024.
- Investigators must be professionals qualified by education, training, and/or experience to investigate relevant facts.
- Paralegals must have a two-year paralegal certificate or an associate or bachelor’s degree in paralegal studies and perform substantive legal work.

Salary Information:
- Contract attorneys earn $100 per hour for non-capital cases.
- For capital cases eligible for the death penalty, lead counsel earns $150 per hour, and second chair/co-counsel earns $125 per hour.
- Investigators are paid $65 per hour, while certified paralegals are paid $45 per hour.
- "Windshield time" rate for travel time outside the primary county is $50 per hour.

Additional Information:
- Attorneys have access to Lexis legal research for public defense cases at no cost.
- The SPD will not have flat fee contracts, adhering to American Bar Association standards.
- All contracts will be with individual attorneys, with no specific county-wide contracts.
- Contractors can take private clients in addition to public defense work.
- The SPD assigns cases to contract attorneys in counties without an institutional office.
- The Alternate Counsel Division assigns attorneys to conflict cases and Child Protective Act cases.
- There is no charge for contract attorneys to use the LegalServer case management system.
- Contractors must track their time to ensure accountability and resource allocation.
- The SPD will provide an attorney for every child and parent under . 16-1614(2)(a) in relevant cases.
- Funding for guardian ad litem representation is limited to $500,000 per fiscal year.
- Travel and expenses for travel between the contractor's home and office are not reimbursed.
- Contractors can request approval to hire investigators or paralegals for case work.
- Vertical representation is required, but in emergencies, another state-contracted attorney can cover cases with SPD approval.
- The SPD will withdraw from a case after sentencing and restitution unless the case is on appeal.
- Probation violations will be assigned to the attorney who handled the original case if possible.