In 2006, Virginia narrowly avoided a lawsuit that was prepared by Covington & Burling lawyers, along with support from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers ("NACDL"), the Virginia Indigent Defense Coalition, and the American Bar Association ("ABA"), when it agreed to undertake widespread reform in its indigent defense system. The Spangenberg Group, on behalf of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants, prepared this 2004 report which garnered significant national and local media attention. It detailed severe systemic problems with Virginia's indigent defense system and recommended a number of reforms. This report was influential in helping educate the public about the serious flaws in the then-existing indigent defense system, as well as informing the legislative debate around the type of reform that was most appropriate. See Malia Brink, Indigent Defense Reform in Virginia: A Long Road Well-Traveled, CHAMPION, May 2007. This article is available online: www.nacdl.org/champion.aspx?id=4751.

Timothy Shoffner - 07/12/2012


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