After a homicide judge reported that the pay given to private defense attorneys for Philadelphia defendants facing death row is “grossly inadequate,” the state Supreme Court ordered the judge to evaluate the effects of raising the fees paid to $10,000 for lead counsel and to $7,500 for penalty-phase counsel.
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Senior Judge Benjamin Lerner was directed to make a report in six months regarding “the adequacy of the amount of pay set forth in the new fee schedule, as well as the question of whether there is sufficient qualified attorneys on the Philadelphia capital trial appointment list.”
