What action can I take against a court appointed lawyer? -

This lawyer was appointed by the NYS courts for my brother whom doesn t have the money to pay a lawyer. He was charged with Felony-Theft. He has since returned the property and been a good civilian since his arrest. His court appointed lawyer didn t show up for his last appeance. Is there a legal action as a family member I can take against this man for breaking his right to a fair and speedy trial? If not, what other things might I be able to do in order to get this lawyer to cooperate?

It doesn t make any difference whether the lawyer was selected by your brother or Court appointed! He still owes your brother the same high quality service under the law - that your brother is entitled to as his client! Your brother could possibly maintain a Law suit against him for Malpractice and be successful. Your brother could also demand that the Bar Association of the State of New York disbar this Attorney. Once that complaint is filed with the State - they will definitely investigate into it for further processing! Good Luck to your brother!

You may want to try getting some information from the National Lawyers Guild. I believe they have branches in most major cities and they are there to help us (regular folks) against possible corruptions of local law enforcement agencies.

sue him

Your brother (not you) can claim quot;ineffective assistance of counselquot;. If his lawyer does not appear to represent him, it would appear that that would be proof enough of quot;ineffective assistancequot;. When your brother appears again before the judge, he should request another attorney, and bring up this issue as why. Most judges will order the court to appoint another lawyer. If the lawyer s actions were to blame for violating the speedy trial requirements, then action needs to be taken in federal court to address that. The speedy trial matter is a U.S. constitutional issue (although it may violate various state constitutions which designate shorter periods as well...I m not familiar with New York though).

you as a family member can do nothing other than to complain to the Ethics board.

No. He will have to spend time in jail for stealing.

Any lawyer that does not show up to a schelduled court appearance can be found in contempt of court by the judge unless he/she provides a significant excuse for absence. You cannot do anything. It would be up to your brother to ask the court that he be assigned another lawyer because of this lawyer s incompetence. I would tell your brother that from now on he keep a log of all converstaions that he and his lawyer have and maybe even record their meetings on tape. This will, if nothing else, give your brother grounds for an appeal, and may be presented to the court as to why he should be granted a new lawyer. If he does request a new lawyer, though, he should definitely try to get his own. I am sure once it comes out at the public defender s office that he didn t think that the current lawyer did a good job, the rest will not put forth their best effort.

Call the bar association. You wouldnt have this problem if you would clean up your brothers act.