- Child Custody and VisitationOur attorneys are appointed by the Juvenile Court or the Probate and Family Court to represent children and indigent parents in child welfare matters, including care and protection proceedings (C&P’s), children requiring assistance cases (CRA’s), actions to terminate parental rights, guardianships, and any other child custody proceeding where the Department of Children and Families (DCF) is a party or where the court is considering granting custody to DCF.
- GuardianshipMost representation is provided by approximately 3,000 private attorneys trained and certified to accept appointments. Support for and supervision of these attorneys is provided by the Private Counsel Division (for criminal cases and related matters), the Children and Family Law Division (for child welfare cases), the Youth Advocacy Division (for delinquency, youthful offender, and GCL revocation cases), and the Mental Health Division (for guardianships and mental health/substance abuse commitments). Approximately 500 staff attorneys, working in offices located across Massachusetts, provide representation to clients in Superior, District, Juvenile, and Probate and Family Court cases and in appeals of those cases.
- Criminal DefenseThe Private Counsel Division Criminal Appeals Unit assigns attorneys to Adult, Criminal, Post-Conviction cases and oversees panel attorneys who litigate these cases.
- Sex CrimesThe Private Counsel Division of CPCS delivers legal services to indigent clients through assigned private attorneys in criminal defense trial and post-conviction cases as well as commitment and registration cases for persons convicted of sex offenses. Our mission is to provide excellent legal services to each and every client by assuring that all assigned attorneys possess the skills they need through experience or training, meet high standards of performance and have ready access to mentoring, supervision and continuing legal education. To support this effort CPCS also provides consulting attorneys with expertise in trial skills, post-conviction matters, immigration law, forensic evidence and expert witnesses, community resources and sex offender registration. The CPCS Private Counsel division welcomes feedback about our service from clients and from assigned attorneys.
- FraudIs a nationally recognized trial lawyer and bar leader, with over 30 years of experience in public service, government enforcement defense, and litigation. As head of Choate’s Government Enforcement practice for two decades, Jack has represented scores of companies and their officers in DOJ investigations and prosecutions, SEC and private securities fraud litigation, False Claims Act litigation, and high stakes internal investigations. Jack is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has served as Special Counsel to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, President of the Boston Bar Association, and a member of the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission. He is a former Assistant United States Attorney and Chief Trial Counsel in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. In 2017 he was selected as a Fellow in Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative. Jack teaches Federal White Collar practice at New England Law/Boston; serves as a member and former Chair of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the governing board of Massachusetts’ public defender agency; and is a Director of the Pine Street Inn, New England’s largest organization serving homeless men and women.
- MurderThe Chief Counsel of the Committee for Public Counsel Services has determined that there currently exists an emergency and urgent need for highly qualified attorneys to accept assignments in murder cases. This emergency is primarily the result of the complete cessation of criminal jury trials following the COVID19 pandemic and the slow resumption of jury trials as the pandemic wanes and vaccinations increase. CPCS has found it increasingly difficult to find murder list attorneys who are able and willing to take on new murder assignments. This emergency authorization gives the Chief Counsel the authority to appoint up to a total of ten (10) CPCS staff and private attorneys, who presently do not meet the minimum requirements for the murder list, to the murder list to meet the urgent demand for more attorneys to take murder cases. The Chief Counsel shall have the authority and complete discretion to appoint attorneys to the murder list who, although they do not presently meet the minimum murder list requirements as set forth in the Assigned Counsel Manual, have been, at a minimum, lead defense counsel in five (5) superior court jury trials or federal district court jury trials within six (6) years from the date of the application and have demonstrated other extraordinary qualities that are essential to the delivery of high quality legal defense services to people accused of murder. The Chief Counsel may use their authority and discretion to consider the totality of an applicant’s credentials for inclusion on the murder list and the urgent need for murder list attorneys in specific geographic areas in the Commonwealth. The decision of the Chief Counsel shall be final.
- Juvenile CrimesArmed with an expanded mission which includes training, empowering and supporting lawyers across the state, EdLaw has created a program of education rights training modules for delinquency and child welfare attorneys practicing in Massachusetts. These attorneys are skilled advocates in juvenile law and practice but are often feel ill-equipped to handle the education issues their clients are experiencing. Our modules are delivered in a variety of settings including multi-day, intensive sessions covering a broad range of topics as well as in shorter modules outlining specific topics. This approach will leverage the expertise of nearly one thousand attorneys, permanently transform the standard of practice for child advocacy in Massachusetts and dramatically improve educational and life outcomes for thousands of poor children annually.
- Antitrust
- Probate