LCrR 57.1: Appearances by Attorneys in Criminal Cases
(a) An attorney, whether retained or appointed, who enters a post-indictment appearance shall continue to represent the defendant until the case is dismissed, the defendant is acquitted, or the direct appeal is completed unless the attorney is granted leave to withdraw by the District Court or the Court of Appeals if notice of appeal has been filed.
(b) In cases where appointments under the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) have been made to a mentee attorney under the CJA mentorship program, the mentee attorney shall file an appearance that clearly states that the attorney is appointed as a mentee. A mentee shall work on the case only under the direction of the appointed CJA attorney serving as a mentor. The mentee shall not appear in court unless under the in-person supervision of the appointed CJA attorney assigned as a mentor. If the CJA attorney assigned as a mentor is allowed to withdraw, the mentee shall also be relieved as counsel in the case.
(c) Mentor-mentee pairings normally should be limited to one pairing per defendant in a case.
(d) Except for the automatic withdrawal of a mentee attorney provided in subsection (b), an attorney who has appeared in a criminal case may thereafter withdraw only by written motion served upon the defendant personally or at the defendant's last-known address and upon all other parties. The Court may deny a motion to withdraw if the attorney's withdrawal would unduly delay trial of the case, or be unfairly prejudicial to any party, or otherwise not be in the interest of justice.
(e) The United States Attorney shall advise the Clerk and the District Judge to whom the case is assigned regarding any change in the attorney for the United States responsible for the prosecution.
COMMENT: LCrR 57.1 should be read with Fed. R. Crim. P. 44.
COMMENT: By Administrative Order 24-AO-011, effective June 1, 2024, the Court adopted temporary amendments to LCrR 57.1 to implement a pilot mentorship program proposed by the Federal Community Defender's Office and adopted by the Court. The temporary amendments add subsections (b) and (c), governing appearances by mentee attorneys.
June 01, 2024