Florida Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
Public defender, state attorney hurting from state budget cuts
The state attorney’s office is also looking at about six days of furloughs for its employees if they’re not granted an exemption from budget cuts.”I am concerned about a morale issue, because I look at our folks and I can’t even hold out any hope,” State Attorney Willie Meggs said.Meggs said his employees haven’t had a raise since 2006. He also said their caseloads are increasing, because attorneys are leaving and not being replaced.
Public Defender Nancy Daniels says attorneys in her office might have to turn down cases if they can’t get any relief from budget cuts.”It’s unethical for a defense lawyer to represent so any people that they can’t do an adequate job for clients,” she said.The Office of the Public Defender currently has 60 attorneys, not including the six positions that have been eliminated since last summer. Full Story: http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080821/BREAKINGNEWS/80821005/-1/BREAKINGNEWS
