Reading this thread, I am today years old upon realizing the public defender charges you after the court case regardless of outcome and isn't provided at no cost to the client.
My spouse is a public defender - they don't charge for their work. I'm not sure where this information is coming from
I hired a lawyer exactly once, she had a flat $400 fee to drop speeding tickets over 75MPH but less than 85MPH in VA (the legal limit on most highways is 70) from a misdemeanor to a regular ticket fine. It remains an absurd racket.
It's probably different elsewhere, but as a public defender in Oregon, I never receive payments from clients. I get a salary from a nonprofit. The court does sometimes charge clients a fee but that money doesn't go directly to us, I suppose the state DoJ gets it. Honestly, not sure about that.
Me too. That thread and the replies to this have surprised me. And I knew PDs were badly paid.
Also...the money you pay for the public defender? Yeah, it doesn't actually go to fund the public defender.