14-05-2025
These attorneys defend clients in need. Their pay is being frozen for months.
A group of attorneys representing clients who cannot afford legal representation in federal cases are set to have their pay halted for more than two months because of budget shortfalls in the congressional spending bill passed this year, court officials say, alarming lawyers and judges.
The pay freeze will affect private-sector defense attorneys hired by courts under the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) to represent financially in need, or indigent, clients. Payments to the attorneys are expected to be suspended from late July until October, according to the federal judiciary, notices sent to lawyers and interviews. The lawyers are expected to receive the delayed payments in October.
