Paid a Public Defender

[Freebird_Now]

Anyone have any knowledge about "conflict of interest" or a lawyers ethical responsibility to inform client that he is on the payroll by county as a public defender?
This attorney knew I qualified for a public defender, knew I was borrowing money to retain him and never mentioned I could recieve his services for free if I applied for a P.D. No way would I have hired him if I had known.

Other attorneys after it was over made statements to his charactor such as:
He is a public defender, you paid him?
He's a fixture in that court room, they tell him what to do.

Later in request for court documents the court even acknowledges him as the public defender who represented you.

He was paid thousands of dollars and as many lawyers have said, I was sold.

Any info on on the issue of this lawyer's ethics in accepting money or conflict of interest will be apreciated greatly. Thanks in advance.

 

[CdwJava]

You don't get a public defender if you can afford an attorney on your own. All because your attorney also serves as a public defender does not mean you might automatically obtain his services if the court assigned a P.D. A P.D. is assigned on a rotational basis, and depending on the practice in your state or county, you might have to pay a small amount to fees anyway if you lose.

If you could afford to pay thousands of dollars, then you likely would not have qualified for a P.D. Whether he was legally obligated to tell you that you might qualify for a P.D. is something that only your local Bar Association can tell you. If you have a complaint, consider filing it with them.

- Carl