TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Brittany Sims on Oct 21, 2014

Hamilton County Public Defender Steve Smith tells the Chattanooga Times Free Press he wants the office to run like a private law practice by adopting vertical representation. "I want a client to know who their lawyer is from the moment they're arrested until the moment that case is resolved, rather than just the office is assigned to that client," Smith said. In reality, the public defender’s office has until now used a horizontal model. Vertical representation is the standard recommended by the American Bar Association, and it's being slowly adopted in large metropolitan counties around the state, Knox County Public Defender Mark Stephens said.