New York family court attorneys leaving in droves, putting right to representation at risk
NEW YORK -- What has been called the Great Resignation is now impacting the courts.
Family court, to be exact, which deals with some of the most sensitive and emotional cases.
Now, attorneys say without a pay increase, their clients won't get the quality free representation they're entitled to.
CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas has more on why lawyers say they can't hold on much longer.
For more than a decade, attorney Savina Playter has been staple in family court, from custody cases to orders of protection.
"My caseload is really unimaginable. It's not something I can handle," Playter told Cline-Thomas.
Court appointed attorneys are leaving in droves, saddling those who remain with as many as 100 cases each.
"I'm working late at night. I'm working weekends. Just so that I can get to my clients," Playter said.
Attorneys blame low pay for the mass exodus. They earn $75 an hour for felony cases, $60 an hour for misdemeanors and haven't had a raise since 2004.
Lawyers appealed to the State Legislature to be in line with their federal counterparts, who earn $158 an hour.
"So the average practitioner, I would say, who has an office and has somebody working for them, at the end of the day, they're making around $15 an hour," said Sarah Tirgary, president of the Association of Assigned Counsel.
Taking home minimum wage, they say, is unsustainable. When the Legislature didn't put any increases in the latest budget, attorneys took their case to the State Supreme Court.
"How long can you hold on?" Cline-Thomas asked.
"Not much longer. I know we lost a lot of people, really good attorneys recently, because they just can't pay their bills," Tirgary replied.
Attorneys fear most for clients. Kasaun Fryson, a former defendant in family court, relied on a court-appointed attorney to help navigate getting custody of his younger brother after their mom died of COVID.
"Every night, I laid awake just thinking about what was going to happen," Fryson said. "I had months to get this custody or we both would have been homeless."
His attorney helped change his family's life for the better. But with fewer lawyers and mounting cases, they say for new clients, their Constitutional rights will be delayed -- or worse, denied.
The governor's office did not respond to CBS2's request for comment, and the Supreme Court judge has yet to issue a ruling.
