Can a court appointed attorney stop working on your case after you are convicted and sent to jail because you have not paid the bill?
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Can a court appointed attorney stop working on your case after you are convicted and sent to jail because you have not paid the bill?
My brother was appointed an attorney by the court to represent him and at sentencing he was expecting to be released on probation but the judge ordered 3 to 6 months in jail and he did not pay the lawyer his bill.
We asked the lawyer to file the petition after three months for him to be released on house arrest as the judge stated he would consider this after 90 days and it took him two weeks to respond by text and when he did he said he hasn’t been paid but he will send it in. I explained to him that I am not in the position to pay him and obviously his client can not pay while he is incarcerated but has every intention to when he gets out and works again.
He has since not responded to any calls and we do not know if he actually filed the petition, he does not respond to me.
Is this allowed or does a lawyer have to tell you that they are no longer representing you? Can they just quit and not tell you, he was court appointed.
Asked on September 28, 2016 under Criminal Law, New Jersey
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Typically, a court appointed attorney is appointed for a specific purpose--such as the main trial or an appeal. They are not given an open ended assignment to help the accused as long as and however the accused needs help. If your brother was convicted (or pled guilty) and was sentenced, that "phase" would be over and an attorney representing him during trial and/or at sentencing would not have to file a petition for house arrest. Also, the legal ethical codes specifically allow lawyers to not work for clients for fail to pay them (no one expects a plumber to work without being paid--why should an attorney?). So based on what you write, this lawyer does not need to do this work.
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