GOOD PRACTICES FOR FEDERAL PANEL ATTORNEY PROGRAMS: A Preliminary Study of Plans and Practices

More than 40 percent of persons charged with federal crimes who are financially eligible
for government-funded lawyers are represented by panel attorneys, private attorneys
appointed by the court. While the Constitution and statutes dictate the broad mandates for
appointing counsel, the details are left to each of the 94 individual district courts. Thus, a
range of systems, diverse both in type and quality, has developed to provide for panel
attorneys.
As a step in its strategic planning effort, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
asked the Vera Institute to identify and discuss good practices for selecting, managing,
appointing, and compensating panel attorneys. Vera researchers reviewed the written
panel attorney plans of all 94 judicial districts and conducted interviews with many panel
attorney representatives, federal public and community defenders, judges, and court
administrators. Three districts that had made significant efforts to improve their panel
systems—Maryland, the Western District of Oklahoma, and Oregon—were chosen for
closer study. Our goal was to identify practices that advance the quality of defense
representation, as well as those which improve monetary and other efficiencies