By Hon. Andrew T. Baxter and Hon. Daniel J. Stewart,
Co-Chairs of the NDNY CJA Committee
The Board of Judges of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York (“NDNY”) is actively soliciting applicants to join our Criminal Justice Act (“CJA”) panel, which provides representation for indigent federal criminal defendants in the NDNY. The NDNY has no local CJA attorneys in Utica and one local CJA attorney in Binghamton, and needs additional local CJA attorneys in Syracuse and Plattsburgh.
Any attorney admitted to the NDNY (i.e., with a NDNY Bar Roll #) may apply to become a CJA Panel attorney using the automated application process on our public website–https://www.nynd.uscourts.gov/cja-attorney-application. Once an application is submitted, it will be routed to our CJA Committee for review and recommendation to the Board of Judges, which will consider the application at their next quarterly meeting.
The Board of Judges will be particularly receptive to applications from experienced state-court criminal practitioners who have taken advantage of the NDNY Federal Public Defender’s Office’s (“FPD”) video training series, which provides an overview of how to handle a federal criminal case from beginning to end. Anyone seeking to access this training series (which consists of twelve 40-minute videos) may contact Matt Clute at the FPD’s Office in Syracuse ([email protected]) for the box.com password.
More information about the CJA panel, including a link on how to apply to become a member of the NDNY bar, and details about CJA compensation rates, may also be found at our public website–https://www.nynd.uscourts.gov/criminal-justice-act. Finally, the FPD’s Offices in Syracuse (315-701-0080) and Albany (518-436-1850) are available to answer any questions about service on the CJA panel, and to link less experienced attorney who want to learn more about federal criminal practice with mentors.