By Kate Anderson
Over 500 criminal cases have been thrown out in Massachusetts amid an ongoing pay dispute between the state and defense attorneys.
Chelsea District Court and municipal courts in Boston have dismissed 206 cases in Suffolk County and 369 cases in Middlesex County, including allegations of armed robbery and drug possession, according to WCVB 5. Lawyers in the state are currently paid $65 an hour to serve as bar advocates for district court cases and many have refused to take on more until the pay rate increases to $100 per hour, according to The New York Times. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Trump Open To Bringing Back Insane Asylums To Clean Up Streets)
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court responded to the shortage by authorizing the “Lavallee Protocol,” which requires defendants to be released after going seven days without counsel and dismissal of criminal cases if a defense attorney has not been appointed after 45 days, WCVB 5 reported. Prosecutors can bring back charges against those whose cases are dismissed at a later date.
Criminal cases dismissed by the hundreds amid growing court crisis | Click on the image to read the full story https://t.co/5r7BVs8o5k
— WCVB-TV Boston (@WCVB) August 29, 2025
In Massachusetts, private attorneys handle 80% of cases where the defendant can’t afford legal representation, according to the Times. Attorneys in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are paid $150, $125 and $100 respectively.
“We’re trying to save this program, because at this rate — half of what bordering states are paying — no one in Massachusetts is going to do this work anymore,” Jennifer O’Brien, a Middlesex County lawyer, told the Times. “That’s the risk the Legislature is taking.”
Democratic Governor Maura Healey of Massachusetts signed a bill in early August that approved a $10-per-hour pay raise for state-appointed defense attorneys, with an additional $10 increase in 2026, according to WCVB 5. The new law also set aside $40 million to recruit approximately 320 new public defenders so the state doesn’t have to rely so heavily on private attorneys.
The state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security announced July 1 that violent crime had declined in 2024, with homicides going from 149 in 2023 to 132 incidents and aggravated assaults dropping from 17,835 cases to 16,813, according to a press release.
