To ensure that indigent accused receive the effective assistance of counsel to which they are constitutionally entitled, Standard 7 requires attorneys providing defense services to meet minimum professional qualifications. The project will help attorneys who are currently representing indigent clients to continue to do so and will ensure that poor people charged with crimes are represented by qualified counsel no matter where in Michigan they reside. The greatest need for this pilot project will be in the mid-Michigan, Western Michigan, and Northern Michigan regions where a lack of trial experience has been documented. Once the systems are identified, the program will be developed in coordination with a Project Manager and experienced trial attorneys. Multiple types of trials will be created and tested to ensure the experience is meaningful. The “trials” will become the basis for a guidebook to be replicated to a broader range of systems at the conclusion of the program. The goal is to continue to build on the MIDC’s successful training program by expanding the scope to necessary topics, to additional areas of the state where training is necessary, and to identify and train faculty to assist with the training.
