Expanded Criminal Defense Lawyering

Annual Review of Criminology, volume 6

American University, WCL Research Paper 2022-16

33 Pages Posted: 7 Sep 2022 Last revised: 22 Nov 2022

See all articles by Ronald F. Wright

Ronald F. Wright

Wake Forest University - School of Law

Jenny Roberts

Hofstra University - Maurice A. Deane School of Law

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: March 31, 2022

Abstract

This review collects and critiques the academic literature on criminal defense lawyering, with an emphasis on empirical work. Research on criminal defense attorneys in the United States has traditionally emphasized scarcity of resources: too many people facing criminal charges who are “too poor to pay” for counsel and not enough funding to pay for the constitutionally mandated lawyers. Scholars have focused on the capacity of different delivery systems, such as public defender offices, to change the ultimate outcomes in criminal cases within their tight budgetary constraints. Over the decades, however, theoretical understandings of the defense attorney’s work have expanded to include client interests outside the criminal courtroom, reaching the broader social conditions connected to the alleged criminal act. Researchers have responded by asking a broader range of questions about the effectiveness of defense counsel outside the courtroom and by using improved data to study the effectiveness of lawyers at discrete procedural stages.

Keywords: Defense Counsel, Holistic Defense, Right to Counsel, Public Defenders

JEL Classification: K14, K41

Suggested Citation

Wright, Ronald F. and Roberts, Jenny, Expanded Criminal Defense Lawyering (March 31, 2022). Annual Review of Criminology, volume 6, American University, WCL Research Paper 2022-16, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4197359

Ronald F. Wright (Contact Author)

Wake Forest University - School of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 7206
Winston-Salem, NC 27109
United States
336-758-5727 (Phone)
336-758-4496 (Fax)

Jenny Roberts

Hofstra University - Maurice A. Deane School of Law ( email )

121 Hofstra University
Hempstead, NY 11549
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://law.hofstra.edu/jenny-roberts/

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