BOSTON (WHDH) – As the Massachusetts Legislature inches closer toward August recess, negotiations with bar advocates remain stalled, with little sign of progress.
The private attorneys, who contract with the state to represent low-income defendants, have stopped representing new clients as they push for higher pay. Bar advocates handle 80% of indigent defense cases in Massachusetts, while public defenders employed through the state’s Committee for Public Counsel Services cover the remaining 20%.
The lawyers are pushing for their hourly rate to increase from $65 to $100—closer to what bar advocates make in neighboring states. The lawyers say the last significant pay raise came in 2004, and since then, pay increases have averaged just 71 cents a year.
“I am losing hope the more that this goes on,” said Jennifer O’Brien, a bar advocate. “I remain hopeful, but I don’t know what they’re doing because everything is done behind closed doors.”
The Senate Ways and Means Committee said it approved a 22.6% pay raise for the fiscal budgets in 2022 and 2023. Lawmakers say the legislature can’t afford the bar advocates’ proposed increase for the 2026 fiscal budget, which has already been signed into law by Gov. Maura Healey. They say the proposal would cost between $90 million and $100 million.
“The current situation is unsustainable,” a Senate Ways and Means spokesperson said. “We are having active conversations in the legislature, but it remains our hope that the bar advocates will get back to work.”
Lawmakers pushed for targeted raises for bar advocates handling the most serious cases, including murder cases, other Superior Court cases and mental health proceedings. However, the proposal was cut from the final budget sent to Healey.
The work stoppage is already having ripple effects across the criminal justice system. Judges were forced to dismiss more than 120 cases after an emergency protocol was invoked that requires the release…