Appellate Defenders, Inc., is a non-profit
law firm which administers the appointed counsel system
for the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District,
in California. The office operates under a contract with
the California Administrative Office of the Courts.
The central goals of the office are to improve the quality
of indigent representation on appeal and to assist the Court
of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, in administering criminal
and juvenile delinquency appeals by indigents and civil
appeals by indigents in certain areas. The guiding concept
is to engage the resources of the appellate practitioners
to oversee this work and attempt to assure consistently
satisfactory representation of all clients.
In fulfillment of our goals, the office performs the following
basic functions: (1) Preliminary case processing to of notices
of appeal, seeking background information about cases, ascertaining
appellant's need for appointed counsel, and arranging for
delivery of transcripts; (2) Recruitment and classification
of private attorneys available to accept appointment; (3)
Classification of cases and selection of appropriately qualified
counsel for the cases; (4) Systematic and substantial assistance
to appointed counsel in "assisted" cases; (5)
Assistance to appointed counsel in "independent"
cases at the attorney's request; (6) Evaluation of appointed
counsel's performance in every appointed case; (7) Review
of appointed counsel's claims for compensation and recommendation
to the Administrative Office of the Courts as to the compensation
to be paid; and (8) Direct representation of clients in
selected cases.
• ADI’s History
• ADI’s Staff
• Paul Bell Memorial Award
• Paul Bell Fellowship
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