Defenders do not generally track their time or identify tasks undertaken in the representation of their clients. A few public defender organizations have attempted to capture data through weighted caseload studies (conducted by the National Center for State Courts and The Spangenburg Group), which seek to determine maximum attorney caseload by assigning weighted time estimates to types of cases. As so designed, these caseload studies have not been sufficiently detailed and tailored to the unique work of criminal defense to provide the information necessary to manage attorney performance or credibly support requests for additional resources.
Effective implementation of the Ten Principles requires the use of evidence-based practices in order to accurately monitor workload and performance. Defenders must begin to record and evaluate the amount of time required to provide effective representation throughout all phases of a criminal case. NACDL and the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants (SCLAID), serving as a consultant, will provide TTA to help indigent defender organizations: (1) identify the lawyering tasks required for effective representation across the full spectrum of case types; (2) capture personnel time to determine how much time attorneys are spending on these critical tasks; (3) employ user-friendly technologies to promote compliance with newly established standards of practice; (4) use established methodologies to determine how much time attorneys should be spending on these tasks; and (5) use this new data-driven system to continuously and permanently evaluate attorney performance and support requests for adequate resources. NACDL and SCLAID will also work with technical assistance (TA) recipients over the course of the grant period to ensure they have the capacity to implement these practices on a permanent basis.
SCLAID and NACDL will provide TTA in two jurisdictions to develop workload metrics by combining a permanent timekeeping system similar to that used in the private sector with specific tasks, and the estimated time required to complete those tasks, necessary for effective representation using the Delphi method.