State Attorneys General. Each state
has an attorney general who serves as
its chief legal official. In most states
this official is elected on a partisan
statewide ballot. The attorney general
oversees a staff of attorneys who primarily handle the civil cases involving
the state. Although the prosecution
of criminal defendants is generally
handled by the local district attorneys,
the attorney general’s office often plays
an important role in investigating
statewide criminal activities. Thus, the
attorney general and his or her staff
may work closely with the local district attorney in preparing a case
against a particular defendant.
The state attorneys general also
issue advisory opinions to state and
local agencies.
Often, these opinions
interpret an aspect of state law not yet
ruled on by the courts. Although an
advisory opinion might eventually be
overruled in a case brought before the
courts, the attorney general’s opinion
is important in determining the behavior of state and local agencies.
Private Lawyers in the Judicial
Process
In criminal cases in the United States
the defendant has a constitutional
right to be represented by an attorney.
Some jurisdictions have established
public defender’s offices to represent
indigent defendants. In other areas,
some method exists of assigning a
private attorney to represent a defendant who cannot afford to hire one.
Those defendants who can afford to
hire their own lawyers will do so.
In civil cases neither the plaintiff
nor the defendant is constitutionally
entitled to the services of an attorney.
However, in the civil arena the legal
issues are often so complex as to demand the services of an attorney. Various forms of legal assistance are usually available to those who need help
Assigned Defense Counsel. When a
private lawyer must be appointed to
represent an indigent defendant, the
assignment usually is made by an individual judge on an ad hoc basis. Local
bar associations or lawyers themselves
often provide the courts with a list of
attorneys who are willing to provide
such services.
Private Defense Counsel.
Some attorneys in private practice specialize in
criminal defense work. Although the
lives of criminal defense attorneys may
be depicted as glamorous on television
and in movies, the average real-life
criminal defense lawyer works long
hours for low pay and low prestige.
The Courtroom Workgroup
Rather than functioning as an occasional gathering of strangers who resolve a particular conflict and then go
their separate ways, lawyers and judges
who work in a criminal court room
become part of a workgroup.
The most visible members of the
courtroom workgroup — judges,
prosecutors, and defense attorneys —
are associated with specific functions:
Prosecutors push for convictions of those accused of criminal offenses
against the government, defense attorneys seek acquittals for their clients,
and judges serve as neutral arbiters to
guarantee a fair trial.
Despite their different roles, members of the courtroom workgroup share certain values
and goals and are not the fierce adversaries that many people imagine. Cooperation among judges, prosecutors,
and defense attorneys is the norm.
The most important goal of the
courtroom workgroup is to handle
cases expeditiously. Judges and prosecutors are interested in disposing
of cases quickly to present a picture
of accomplishment and efficiency.
Because private defense attorneys
need to handle a large volume of
cases to survive financially, resolving
cases quickly works to their advantage.
And public defenders seek quick
dispositions simply because they
lack adequate resources to handle
their caseloads.
A second important goal of the
courtroom workgroup is to maintain
group cohesion. Conflict among the
members makes work more difficult
and interferes with the expeditious
handling of cases.
Finally, the courtroom workgroup
is interested in reducing or controlling
uncertainty. In practice this means
that all members of the workgroup
strive to avoid trials. Trials, especially
jury trials, produce a great deal of uncertainty given that they require substantial investments of time and effort
without any reasonable guarantee of a
desirable outcome.
To attain these goals, workgroup
members employ several techniques.
Although unilateral decisions and
adversarial proceedings occur, negotiation is the most commonly used
technique in criminal courtrooms.
The members negotiate over a variety
of issues — continuances (delays in
the court proceedings), hearing dates,
and exchange of information, for example. Plea bargaining, however, is the
most critical tool of negotiation.
Legal Services for the Poor
Although criminal defendants are
constitutionally entitled to be represented by a lawyer, those who are defendants in a civil case or who wish to
initiate a civil case do not have the
right to representation. Therefore,
those who do not have the funds to
hire a lawyer may find it difficult to
obtain justice.
To deal with this problem, legal aid
services are now found in many areas.
Legal aid societies were established in
New York and Chicago as early as the
late 1880s, and many other major
cities followed suit in the 20th century.
Although some legal aid societies are
sponsored by bar associations, most
are supported by private contributions. Legal aid bureaus also are associated with charitable organizations in
some areas, and many law schools operate legal aid clinics to provide both
legal assistance for the poor and valuable training for law students. In addition, many lawyers provide legal services “pro bono publico” (Latin for “for
the public good”) because they see it
as a professional obligation.