Stanford Bandelli, a Brooklyn and Staten Island-based defense lawyer who handles about one 18-B case a year, called the suspension "disappointing" because the assigned-counsel program "provided a very valuable service" to defendants and the courts.
A member of the advisory committee to the assigned-counsel plan for the Second Department himself, Bandelli, said many 18-B lawyers are former prosecutors or Legal Aid attorneys who are "experienced and compassionate" and institutional providers were not "a good substitute."
"It seems to me an attempt to manage the finances of the city is undermining the quality of the defense available to these individuals," he said.
@|Andrew Keshner can be contacted at akeshner@alm.com.
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