Quality of Work and Work Standards



I. A. Quality of Work and Work Standards

1. It is the policy of the Appellate Public Defender Office to provide every client with effective and timely assistance of counsel. Thus, the attorneys in the APDO are expected to exercise the professional ability and dedication to carry out this policy. Factors which measure professional ability and dedication include: knowledge of substantive and procedural law; effective research; recognition of legal issues; writing skills, including accuracy, brevity, clarity, development of issues and arguments, and effective use of authorities; oral argument skill; compliance with court rules and orders; effective allocation and use of time; assistance to other personnel; and client communication.

The APDO will zealously represent the client within the Texas Rules of Professional Conduct and the laws of this State and the United States. The advocate’s task is to present the client’s case with persuasive force. Performance of that duty while maintaining confidences of the client is qualified by the advocate’s duty of candor to the tribunal.

2. In assuring these high standards, it is necessary to monitor the caseload of the office as a whole and each attorney, in order to distribute the work load evenly, and concomitant with each attorney’s experience level.

a. Quality of Work—pursuant to the above policy, every document prepared by the APDO is expected to be of the highest quality, filed in a timely manner, and in full compliance with applicable court rules. The APDO shall follow the BLUE BOOK, A Uniform system of Citation, 18th Ed., and the Texas GREEN BOOK for uniform citation in all filed documents and work product.

b. Minimum Work Standards—pursuant to the above policy, the APDO has adopted the following minimum work standards. These graduated work standards are well within the capability of a reasonably professional and dedicated appellate attorney and can be met without sacrificing quality or care of representation in a mutually supportive work environment. Assistant Defenders shall recognize the importance of these minimum work standards. The chief defender will monitor the work of the attorneys in their office on an ongoing basis, and take reasonable steps necessary to ensure the standards are met.

MINIMUM WORK STANDARDS

i. Generally, the attorneys of the APDO shall not have more than 25 cases open for briefing, at any given time. At no time shall the work exceed, per attorney, 25 cases open for briefing and 25 cases expected to be dismissed due to procedural default. The APDO will not exceed 200 cases per year. “Procedural default” includes: the right to appeal is waived at trial, or Appellant or his/her trial counsel did not file a timely notice of appeal, or those cases which are not in the appropriate procedural posture for appeal. If the workload exceeds this cap, the APDO cannot accept any more cases until the case load is sufficiently below the cap. Once the cap is met or exceeded, the chief shall file a motion with the trial courts, requesting that the appointments cease until the APDO has provided effective assistance of counsel to those clients already appointed.

ii. Every Assistant APD shall be expected as a minimum standard to prepare twelve (12) high quality units in each six (6) month period.

iii. An assistant APDO who fails to meet the minimum work standards is entitled to submit a written explanation to his or her chief.

iv. For the purpose of these work standards, work units shall be determined from the following schedule:

Work Unit Schedule

Document Prepared Work Unit-75 hours

A. Appellate Court

1. Brief or Anders motion in an appeal from a trial

a. Record up to 1000 pages 1.00

b. plus for each additional 500 pages 0.10

c. where a video or audio, where no transcript, each hour of recording shall count as 0.05

2. Brief or Anders in an appeal from

a. a guilty plea, probation revocation, juvenile proceedings (other than trials) and collateral proceedings .50 b. plus 500 pages .10

3. Appellee’s Brief (record up to 1000 pp) 1.00

a. plus for each additional 500 pages 0.10

b. where a video or audio, where no transcript, each hour of recording shall count as 0.05

4. Reply Brief 0.10

5. Supplemental Brief; motion for rehearing; reply to supplemental brief, response to motion for rehearing 0.10

6. Motion to Dismiss or Withdraw; Response to Motion to Dismiss; Response to Show Cause Why Appeal Should not be dismissed; 0.10

7. Response to State’s Objections to Motion to Dismiss or Motion for Leave to File Notice of Appeal 0.05

8. Oral argument 0.25

B. Court of Criminal Appeals or Texas Supreme Court

Discretionary Review

1. Petition for Discretionary Review or Petition for Review

.25

Response to same .10

2. Brief 0.50

3. Reply Brief 0.10

4. Supplemental Brief, Motion for Rehearing; Reply to supplemental brief or motion for rehearing 0.10

5. Oral Argument 0.10

6. Capital Cases

a. Direct Appeal Brief (up to 4000 pages) 2.25

b. Direct Appeal Brief (over 4000 pp) 0.10

for each additional 500 pp over 4000

C. Professional Practice

1. Editing

a. Each brief shall be edited by at least one other attorney before filing with the court. This includes editing; cite checking, and conferring, and mooting if argument is granted. .10

2. Supervision of interns or non-lawyer work- 40% of work credited to author

3. Weekly review of slip opinions from courts .05

4. Client Contact at the jail

a. The APD shall meet with each client if within 100 miles of San Antonio. .10

b. If the client is incarcerated elsewhere in the State, the attorney may use his or her discretion in allocating resources for the client visit. If the client has been sentenced to death, every effort must be made to visit the client at least once. .25

D. Reporting

1. All attorneys will file a progress report showing units performed monthly.

2. The chief APD will file a report semi annually with the Task Force on Indigent Defense, the Oversight Committee, with courtesy copies to Bexar County Commissioner’s Court and the District Judges, reflecting the units performed.

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