Boston’s criminal courts are straining under a backlog of cases after months of a bar-advocate shortage that left dozens of defendants sitting in limbo without lawyers. In response, the Committee for Public Counsel Services has launched a short-term incentive program designed to lure private attorneys back to district and municipal dockets in Suffolk and Middlesex counties. Court staff and advocates say the cash bump might ease the crunch for now, but warn it does not touch the deeper pay and staffing problems that got the system here in the first place.
According to Boston Herald, CPCS is offering a one-time $500 payment for each additional case a bar advocate accepts in Suffolk and Middlesex. The payments stack, so a lawyer who picks up five extra cases could receive $2,500, and someone who takes 15 could net up to $7,500. The program is scheduled to run through June 30, 2026, or end earlier if the waiting list of defendants without counsel in the two counties is cleared.
Some private defense attorneys are unimpressed. Sean Delaney called the extra money a “slap in the face,” while Shira Diner cautioned that temporary, short-term fixes will not solve what she described as an institutional-scale crisis, Boston Herald reported. CPCS has said its in-house lawyers are already stretched close to capacity even as the incentive program rolls out.
SJC Declines To Set Higher Rates
The state’s highest court recently turned down a request from CPCS to allow judges to raise bar-advocate pay, saying the record did not show the “extraordinary circumstances” needed to override the Legislature, according to Mass Lawyers Weekly. That decision leaves compensation questions squarely in the hands of lawmakers on Beacon Hill even as trial courts scramble to find enough defense counsel. Advocates argue that by deferring to the Legislature, the court has effectively increased the pressure on budget writers and policy makers to act.
Numbers Show Strain In Local Courts
In court filings and reports, CPCS and the trial courts detailed a recent five-week snapshot that showed how thin coverage has become. Middlesex courts reported 59 defendants without lawyers, and the Boston Municipal Court reported 44 between Feb. 20 and Mar. 24, based on CPCS’s March 25 filing. The SJC filing also noted that, as of that date, 185 attorneys had applied to participate in the incentive program. Together, those figures highlight how quickly attorney shortages can snowball into missed hearings, tighter pretrial conditions and, in some cases, dismissals.
Why Money Matters
Lawmakers did approve rate hikes in 2025, but defense attorneys say those increases, along with short-term bonuses, still trail pay in nearby states and have not fixed chronic recruitment problems, per reporting in The Boston Globe. Officials and advocates point to two key levers they say will be needed to stabilize the system: the statutory pay structure and the speed at which CPCS can hire and onboard staff. In public comments and filings, CPCS has said it intends to grow its staff ranks while using the current incentive program to buy time.
What Comes Next
CPCS casts the $500-a-case offer as a triage tool, meant to keep the system from seizing up entirely while it works on longer-term staffing boosts and while courts and the Legislature continue to wrestle with compensation policy. For defendants stuck in the backlog, the bonuses could translate into faster appointments of counsel. For judges, advocates and lawmakers, the program serves as a pointed reminder that one-time cash infusions and enduring structural changes will both be needed if the defense side of the courtroom is going to keep pace.
