The Sixth Amendment guarantees every person accused of a crime the right to a lawyer. It doesn’t say, “if one’s available.” It doesn’t say, “if the budget allows.” It says the accused shall have the assistance of counsel for their defense. In Massachusetts today, that promise is being broken — every single day.
I know this firsthand. I’m one of the many bar advocates across the state — private attorneys who contract with the commonwealth to represent indigent defendants. We are appointed by the court in criminal cases ranging from trespassing to armed robbery, often within hours of someone being arrested. We appear at arraignments, argue bail, investigate charges, negotiate resolutions, and when necessary, try the case before a jury. We are often called in on a moment’s notice to represent people in addiction or mental health crisis. With bar advocates appointed in roughly 80% of criminal cases — especially in district court — we carry the bulk of the constitutional burden.
Like many of my colleagues, I’ve stopped taking new cases — not because I want to, but because I can no longer afford to do this work under the current conditions. In district court, the state pays just $65 an hour — a rate that hasn’t changed in nearly two decades. Once you subtract the cost of running a law practice — rent, insurance, licensing, legal research tools, retirement contributions, and all the other costs that come with being self-employed — it’s often less than a livable wage. And unlike salaried employees, we don’t get paid time off, health care subsidies, or any buffer for professional burnout. This isn’t sustainable — for lawyers or for justice.
And this isn’t just about money. It’s about the integrity of the legal system itself.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Judicial Court reinstated the “Lavallee protocol,” a rarely invoked but essential safeguard. Under that procedure — born from a prior counsel shortage here in western Massachusetts — courts must appoint counsel within seven days of arraignment or release the defendant. If no lawyer can be found, charges must eventually be dismissed. This protocol isn’t a loophole — it’s the legal floor. If the state won’t fund the right to counsel, it loses the right to prosecute.
This obligation isn’t just a constitutional guarantee — it’s written into Massachusetts law as well. The state’s public counsel statute mandates that a lawyer be appointed in every case where one is legally required. But when the commonwealth refuses to fund the system adequately, that legal promise becomes hollow.
Some people see headlines about released defendants and assume something is broken. They’re right, but not in the way they think. What’s broken is a system that tries to imprison people without a functioning defense bar. Defense lawyers aren’t here to protect criminals — we’re here to protect the fairness of the process. We hold the state to its burden. We prevent wrongful convictions. And we ensure that truth — not guesswork and assumptions — determines guilt.
The damage didn’t start with this work stoppage. For years, we’ve watched the ranks of bar advocates quietly and inexorably shrink. In counties like Franklin, the bar advocate system has operated under constant strain, held together by the goodwill of too few lawyers doing too much work for too little pay. New lawyers, often buried in student debt, can’t justify this path. Others are leaving the state entirely, aided by licensing rules that allow transitions to other better-paying jurisdictions. The bar advocate system isn’t just under pressure — it’s bleeding out.
Massachusetts pays the lowest appointed counsel rates in the region. Rhode Island pays up to $142 an hour. Maine pays $158.
Massachusetts pays $65.
And we wonder why lawyers are walking away.
This is not a sustainable way to run a justice system. If the commonwealth still believes in the rule of law, it must act — before more lawyers leave, more cases collapse, and more rights disappear.
Because without counsel, there is no defense. And without defense, there is no justice.
Bill Lane is a bar advocate based in Greenfield. He represents indigent defendants in district and superior courts. He is one of many attorneys currently refusing new appointments in protest of the state’s inadequate funding of the constitutional right to counsel.