Why are New Jersey attorneys required to represent indigent defendants for free when assigned those cases by the court?
In Madden v. Delran, 126 N.J. 591 (1992), the Supreme Court reaffirmed the bars duty to represent indigent defendants without pay where the Legislature has made no provision for the Public Defender to represent defendants who are entitled to counsel. The Court recognized that it was placing a burden on the bar that should be more generally shared by the public at large. The Court said: We realize it is the bar that is bearing the burden . . . . We trust the bar understands the strong policy considerations that have persuaded us. As has so often been the case, it is the bar that makes the system work, often without compensation. 126 N.J. at 614.
