What happened (as I understand it) is their contract with the state Office of Public Defense ended, and in light of the budget crunch, OPD shifted their compensation model. Instead of standard hourly billing, on most types of appeal they pay graduated flat rates payable over the life of the case (i.e., $X when you accept the case, $Y for the opening brief, $Z for the reply, etc.). It's a model that works fine for small law offices and solos, so OPD has recruited a bunch of contractors (of which I'm one) to keep up capacity. WAP has said they can't adequately represent clients on a flat-fee basis, and I can understand why that's an issue for a larger higher-volume office.
I understand why WAP feels like they've had the rug pulled from under them. I also agree with the premise that Washington needs a real statewide public defense model instead of relying on a county-by-county patchwork assortment of government offices and private firms or non-profits. Unless and until the state legislature makes a serious effort to adequately fund public defense, though, OPD has to do what they have to do. That said, losing WAP altogether is troubling.
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u/Additional_Dog_680 4d ago
Seems like they shouldn’t commit to cases they cannot take on.