ALBANY - A lawyer for the Bloomberg administration faced persistent questioning from Court of Appeals judges yesterday about whether New York City’s plan to tap more institutional legal service providers to represent poor criminal defendants would undermine the city’s 18-B assigned counsel system.

Assistant Corporation Counsel Julian Kalkstein defended the plan being challenged by five county bar associations who under Article 18-B of the County Law, passed in 1965 , participate in providing representation to poor defendants.

Julian Kalkstein, representing New York City, left, and Jonathan Pressment, representing the city’s five borough bar groups, argue yesterday before the Court of Appeals in Albany. Photos: Tim Roske