Public Defenders as seen by their Clients: Findings from One Rural County

• In Event: Procedural Justice and Views of the Court

Abstract

Mention of the term public defender often conjures one of two distinct images; the inexperienced, ineffectual lawyer who would be a “real” attorney if they had the ability to do so, or the dedicated true believer. What is missing from these descriptions is an assessment of clients’ satisfaction with their public defender. This study reports the findings of an exploratory analysis of the satisfaction of clients of one rural Public Defender Agency. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with clients of the Agency at the beginning of their case and when possible after their case was resolved. Clients completed the Attorney-Client Trust scale (Boccaccini and Brodsky, 2002), a client satisfaction measure, as well as additional items designed to assess their satisfaction with their attorney. In addition, at Time 2, clients were asked to speak about what their attorney did best, what they did worst and to provide suggestions for how the attorney could improve their representation. Results show that negative perceptions of public defenders do not necessarily apply generally or to measures of trust and satisfaction. Limitations and implications of the study also are addressed.

Authors

• Marla Sandys, Indiana University

• Heather Pruss, Indiana University

• Lorinda Youngcourt, Lawrence County Public Defender Agency