Research Catalog

Title

Case weights for federal defender organizations / Nicholas M. Pace ... [et al.].

Publication

Santa Monica, CA : RAND Corporation, c2011.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Pace, Nicholas M. (Nicholas Michael), 1955-
• Rand Safety and Justice (Program)

Description

liii, 275 p. : ill.; 29 cm.

Summary

Attorneys working at federal defender organizations (FDOs) represent financially eligible individuals in federal criminal prosecutions and related proceedings, both at the trial court level and on appeal. This report describes a statistically reliable system of case weights, based on the national averages of attorney hours expended in various types of cases, and examines issues related to factors, other than the type of case, that might affect the amount of resources necessary for providing an effective defense. It also asks whether employing case weights makes sense for evaluating and projecting FDO resource needs, what might be the best ways for calculating those weights, and what appeared to be the most-significant limitations on their application in this manner. It presents the main findings regarding a functional case-weighting system for FDOs, discusses the examination of factors that could influence attorney time expenditures, examines issues related to caseload projections, sets forth historical weighted caseload totals for the federal defender system, and makes recommendations for increasing the accuracy and functionality of any future case-weight update.

Series Statement

Technical report ; TR-1007-AOUSC

Uniform Title

Technical report (Rand Corporation) ; TR-1007-AOUSC.

Subject

• Public defenders > United States
• Legal services > United States
• Judicial statistics > United States
• Legal services > United States > Statistics

Genre/Form

Judicial statistics.

Note

• "Rand Safety and Justice."

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-275).

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Overview of methodological approach -- Factors other than case type that influence attorney time -- Case weights based on national hours of attorney time per case type -- Weighted caseloads at the federal defender organizations -- Statistical reliability of the proposed case-weight system -- Projecting caseloads.

ISBN

• 9780833053121 (pbk. : alk. paper)
• 0833053124 (pbk. : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2011030899

OCLC

743298821

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library