Thank you for your interest in applying for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court Appointed Attorney Registry. Attorneys are added to the Registry July 1 of each year. Registry applications will be available in May.
Application Information:
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Attorneys seeking court appointed cases in the Ninth Judicial Circuit shall submit a completed application. All applications will be reviewed and a limited number of attorneys selected for placement on the Court Appointed Attorney Registry.
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Once the selection process is completed, you will be notified whether you were selected and, if selected, what case types you were selected for.
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Once selected, the attorney must sign a contract with the Justice Administrative Commission (JAC). Failure to comply with the contract terms may result in the contract’s termination and removal from the registry.
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Each attorney is responsible for notifying the Clerk of the Court, Court Administration, and the Justice Administrative Commission of any change in his or her status.
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After Court Administration receives confirmation the JAC contract was signed, it will notify the Clerk’s office to add the attorney to the court appointed registry.
Appointment Information:
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Pursuant to Florida Statute 27.40(b), the Court shall appoint attorneys in rotating order in the order in which names appear on the applicable registry, unless the Court makes a finding of good cause on the record for appointing an attorney out of order.The Clerk of Court shall maintain the registry and provide to the Court the name of the attorney for appointment.An attorney not appointed in the order in which his or her name appears on the list shall remain next in order.
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The Court makes no representations as to the number of cases to which the attorney may be appointed.The number of available cases (i.e., those in which the Office of the Public Defender and/or the Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Counsel cannot provide representation) and the number of attorneys included on the Circuit’s registrywill impact the frequency of appointments.
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The attorney’s failure to accept appointments on any given basis (e.g. rejection of the case, unavailability, etc.) may result in the attorney being removed from the registry.
Required Notification Information:
Any attorney who is disbarred, suspended, etc., or is otherwise the subject of discipline by the Florida Bar or who has had a legal malpractice case filed against him/her, must notify Court Administration within seven (7) days of the filing of the complaint, order or other charging document. In addition, any attorney who is under criminal investigation or has pending criminal charges against him/her must immediately notify Court Administration. Failure to provide such information may result in his/her immediate removal from the registry.
JAC Contract Information:
Newly approved attorneys must sign a contract with the Justice Administrative Commission (JAC) within 30 days of approval. JAC is the entity which pays the court appointed attorney’s fees and costs. JAC contracts are at: www.justiceadmin.org. Failure to sign the contract within 30 days of approval will result in the attorney’s application being rejected.