Can a public defender who has been on my case just stop representing me?

Question

He was with me for six court appearances then at the date of  the preliminary hearing he was transferred.  Is this legal?  What can I do?

Anthony Lowenstein · Answer

You can stop paying your public defender.  For more information, please see my website or call me for a legal consultation.

Theodore W. Robinson · Answer

Yes, it is legal. When you have a public defender, you get few, if any, choices  as to who or when you will be represented. The system feels it is enough that  you get free representation. Sorry. In some things in life you do get what you  pay for. This may be one of those instances where it pays to find a way to hire  your own attorney. Good luck.

Michael Morgan · Answer

Public defenders can and often do reassign cases to other lawyers in their office because they may take a new job or be reassigned within their agency.

Michael Lynch · Answer

You are being represented by the Office of the Public Defender.  Any  attorney from that office can represent you.  While you might be  disappointed that your specific attorney no longer is helping you,  unless you have an issue with his replacement you cannot force the  office to supply you with a different attorney.

Eric M. Mark · Answer

Yes. The public defender's office should appoint you a new lawyer who should be given time to familiarize himself with the case before proceeding.

Andrew Subin · Answer

There is not much you can do about which public defender is assigned to your case.  If your last public defender was transferred, you have to give the new public defender some time to work on the case.

Scott Hilderman · Answer

The public defender should provide you with a new attorney.

Jacob Erickson · Answer

Attorneys move around just like anyone else.  You have been appointed a public defender, so any attorney from the public defender's office can be sent to represent you.  You only get to choose your lawyer if you privately pay one to represent you.

Jacob P. Sartz · Answer

My advice is simple; ask for a new attorney. Yes, it is legal for an attorney to  be substituted. Attorneys may need to withdraw from a case for any number of  different reasons. Ultimately, whether an attorney is allowed to withdraw is a  matter of judicial discretion. However, most judges will allow substitutions of  council as long as the case is not near a critical stage in the proceeding, like  a trial, for example.   You may need to notify the court that you do not currently have an attorney;  however, the courts deal with this issue on a regular basis. It may slow your  case down, potentially, if a new attorney needs time to familiarize themselves  with the facts. However, your right to council is a constitutional right. If you  are currently represented and your court-appointed council needs to leave for  some reason, you will potentially either have a new attorney appointed to  represent you or, if you have a public defender's office, they may just assign  someone to take the case over. Further, you may still be able to retain the  council of your choice if you wished to go that route.

Kevin O'Grady · Answer

This is a question regarding the right to a specified attorney.  If you receive a public defender, you may not necessarily always be entitled to the same public defender.  The public defender could be fired, transferred or a variety of other things may occur that prevent the attorney from being present.  Frequently, if another standby public defender is available the court may allow that public defender to stand in.  It is the responsibility of the public defender to request a continuance if he feels that, due to unfamiliarity and lack of preparation, he cannot effectively represent you. You may also object to the hearing occurring under those circumstances, but the court may proceed anyway.  This could be an appellate issue.  Hiring your own attorney means he is your attorney.  Your attorney has a responsibility to tell you if someone else will stand in for him.

Terry Nelson · Answer

You will be assigned another PD.  It is not your decision.  Or, you could hire private counsel if you can actually afford it.  If so, contact me.

Robert English · Answer

You are not represented by a specific public defender, but by the OFFICE of the public defender. Your attorney can be changed at any time.

Michael J. Breczinski · Answer

Was he part of a Defenders Office? Is there someone to take his place. Does the new attorney know the case? These are all things I would need to know before answering this question. Consult an attorney.

Thomas Ogas · Answer

Yes, this is legal.  You are technically represented by THE Public Defender a bureaucrat who runs the Public Defenders office.  He employs many Deputy Public Defenders whose job is to handle the 1000s of cases that are sent to him each year.  They can transfer or reassign Deputy PDs as necessary.  You don't get to choose which one handles your case.  The only way you get to choose who represents you is to hire your own attorney.

Thomas Tomko · Answer

Just as you can ask to dismiss an attorney, the attorney can dismiss you as a client.  Certainly a transfer of other reasons can justify such a change.  You still have a right to counsel.  However, you do not have a right to a particular attorney.  I hope that this was helpful.

Jonathan Willett · Answer

You are technically represented by the public defender's office, not the individual lawyer.  Consequently, if he is now in another county, you probably have to go with who they assign.  A "new" public defender on your case can probably ask for more time to prepare although the judge and you may not be happy about the delay.  Sometimes delay can work in your favor.

Craig Elhart · Answer

The public defender would have to seek permission from the court before he/she could withdraw from the case.

Michael Palumbo · Answer

It sounds like you were not represented by a particular lawyer but the entity of Legal Aid itself, which has a staff of lawyers, and your file was assigned to a different lawyer when the lawyer who had your file left legal aid. Since you are represented by the entity and not an individually retained lawyer you have no say over whom in the firm actually shows up in court and represents you. While you have the right to counsel of your choosing, when you cannot afford a lawyer and Legal Aid is appointed your "lawyer" is legal aid, not "Bob Jones, Esq." So yes, there is nothing improper about this. What you could do, however, is retain the lawyer who left and you liked, however you will have to pay him yourself.

Brian Walker · Answer

If by "transferred" you mean that another attorney from his firm took over, or that another attorney was appointed, yes, this is legal. Usually, though, a court-appointed attorney cannot simply leave the case unless the client fails to appear at some hearing. There are of course exceptions to this general rule. I know it may be difficult but your best bet is to hire your own attorney.

Joseph Dane · Answer

The court appointed the office of the Public Defender to represent you, not a particular attorney.  You can certainly request (through the public defender's office) for that attorney to continue on with your case, but they can assign whatever attorney and reassign cases as they see fit.  If you're unhappy with your current attorney, you are always free to hire the attorney of your choosing if you can afford to do so.

Jeff Yeh · Answer

Yes it is legal, as long as the PD's Office gives you another attorney, because technically you are not represented by him, but by the whole office. Consider getting a private attorney who will represent you from start to finish.

Eric Rothstein · Answer

You are represented by the public defender's firm (I.e. Legal Aid) not the particular lawyer so, yes, any of their attorneys can show up to represent you. There isn't much you cam do other than hire a lawyer.

Matthew Murillo · Answer

Unfortunately, you can't really do anything about it. Technically, you could have a different public defender at every hearing. You are being represented by the "Law Offices Of The Public Defender" not that specific public defender. This is one reason some people choose to hire a private attorney to defend them.

Carl Spector · Answer

Unfortunately, when you are represented by the public defenders office you can not choose who your lawyer is and you can not control who will actually stand up on your case in any given day.  You can try to hire your own private criminal defense attorney that will always be with you in court at every appearance.

Jared Austin · Answer

I'm not sure what you mean by he was "transferred." Did he get another job and is now no longer a public defender? If that is the case, then a new one should be assigned to you should there be some reason that he can no longer do it. Other than that, an attorney (even a public defender) would have to make a motion to the judge to be dismissed as your counsel and state good reasons on the record. You can hire your own lawyer as well, but a public defender simply cannot just stop showing up with no other public defender to take over for him. Contact the public defender office and find out what is going on.

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