The Judicial Branch in Connecticut has 20 Geographical Area Courts and 15 Judicial District Courts. Over the last fiscal year, Connecticut’s Judicial District Courts handled approximately 4,000 criminal cases. Our Geographic Area Courts handled more than 90,000 criminal cases. Individuals accused of crimes in these cases are represented either by public defenders or private attorneys, either as assigned counsel or privately retained. Private attorneys routinely represented individuals in a variety of courts sprinkled across the state, which means, often enough, they have to be in several different places in one day. Public defenders, while spared the hectic travel from courthouse to courthouse, represent the bulk of criminal defendants and may have upwards of 20 clients on the docket on any given day.

This reality of caseloads makes it extremely difficult for defense attorneys to comply with scheduling requirements imposed by various judges. It is no secret that each Connecticut court operates differently, in accordance with the culture created by the current presiding judge. Scheduling matters also are subject to the dictates of whoever is in charge at a given moment. Thus defense attorneys routinely find themselves ordered to be present into two different locations at the same time, and neither court is willing to budge from its demand.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]