+ Thousands face financial strain.

Get full access to Reuters.com for just $1/week. Subscribe now.

 

The Daily Docket

The Daily Docket

A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

 

By Shruthi Krishnamurthy

Good morning. Today we look at the growing financial strain faced by court-appointed defense lawyers due to the government shutdown. Meanwhile, a federal judge permanently blocked an executive order requiring voters to submit proof of citizenship. Yet another state has parted ways with Motley Rice in opioid litigation. Lastly, scroll to the bottom to read our Billable Hours round-up. Here are our best photos from Halloween around the world. Let’s dive in.

 

U.S. government shutdown worsens financial woes for court-appointed defense lawyers

 

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The U.S. government shutdown is worsening the financial strain on private attorneys who work as court-appointed lawyers for indigent federal criminal defendants. Here’s what to know:

  • The federal program that pays private attorneys under the Criminal Justice Act ran out of money in July, and the ongoing government shutdown has prevented new funding, leaving many lawyers unpaid.
  • There are about 12,000 CJA panel attorneys and they handle about 40% of indigent federal criminal cases.
  • With most being sole practitioners or from small firms, some attorneys are no longer taking new cases. 
  • Courts remain open, but the shrinking pool of available CJA lawyers, down significantly in districts like Central and Southern California, is threatening the judiciary’s ability to uphold the constitutional guarantee of counsel.
  • Defendants have begun arguing that the lack of funding violates their right to legal counsel. Judges have so far rejected motions to dismiss indictments but acknowledged the strain, delaying trials in some cases.
  • Nate Raymond has more about how the shutdown is worsening the strain here.
 

Coming up today

  • The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue orders in pending appeals and then will hear two oral arguments.
  • The D.C. Circuit will hear arguments in a lawsuit brought by immigrants’ rights groups challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to ban asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. The D.C. Circuit dissolved an administrative stay on August 1.
  • The 5th Circuit will hear arguments in a lawsuit brought by the Texas Association of Money Services Businesses against Attorney General Pam Bondi challenging a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network directive that lowered the threshold for reporting money transfers near the Texas-Mexico border. The district court temporarily blocked the change. Read that decision here.
  • U.S. prosecutors face a deadline to respond to former FBI Director James Comey's claims that the Trump administration's prosecution of him is politically motivated and the U.S. attorney overseeing the case was unlawfully appointed.
  • Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is scheduled to speak at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.

Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.

 

More top news

  • White House issues new rule restricting access for journalists
  • Are the deadly U.S. strikes on alleged drug vessels legal?
 
 

Industry insight

  • The Alaska attorney general's office earlier this month terminated its contract with Motley Rice over concerns about the firm's work for other groups in opioid lawsuits. Read more.
 

In the courts

  • U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in D.C. permanently blocked part of an executive order from Donald Trump, ruling that the Republican president cannot require voters to show passports or similar documents as proof of citizenship before voting. Read the opinion.
  • The Trump administration cannot suspend food aid for millions of Americans during the ongoing government shutdown, two federal judges ruled, saying the government must use contingency funds to pay for the benefits. Read more here.
  • U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis threw out a Chicago judge’s order directing a top U.S. border official to report to her daily on his agents’ activity as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the city. Read more here.
  • U.S. District Judge Patti Saris in Boston has granted class action status to a lawsuit seeking to prevent the Trump administration from subjecting thousands of migrants detained by immigration authorities in New England to mandatory detention without the possibility of being released on bond. Read the order.
  • Pfizer filed a lawsuit against Metsera and Novo Nordisk, accusing them of breaking a merger agreement and interfering with the deal. Read more here.
 

October Billable Hours

If you enjoy Billable Hours, our weekly report on lawyers and money, here’s your October round-up:

  • Plaintiffs' law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro is battling court sanctions in two different cases over its handling of clients' claims. Here’s more.
  • Paul Clement and his small law firm are stacking up marquee cases like few other lawyers right now. Hint: Some of the cases involve Trump opponents.