Announcement of Vacancies on Criminal Justice Act Panel

Since 1971, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey has maintained a list of attorneys to be appointed as counsel for eligible defendants pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act (“CJA”), 18 U.S.C. §3006A. The Court has adopted a CJA Plan, revised as of December 10, 1997 and effective September 11, 1998, which “particularize(s) the requirements of the CJA, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 … and the CJA Guidelines in a way that meets the needs of this district.” In summary, the CJA Plan has established a Panel Selection and Management Committee which meets annually to consider applications for the District’s CJA Panel. The District’s CJA Panel consists of 100 attorneys, divided by Vicinage who are members in good standing of the Bar of this District, and have trial experience and knowledge of the Federal Rules of Criminal and Appellate Procedure, the Federal Rules of Evidence, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and the Local Rules of both the District and Circuit Courts. The CJA Committee selects the 100 attorneys for the CJA Panel based upon merit and experience. Membership on the CJA Panel is ordinarily for a term of three years. On March 11, 2012, the term of one-third of the members of the CJA Panel will expire. The Court invites all attorneys interested in becoming members of the CJA Panel to submit an application to William T. Walsh, Clerk, United States District Court, Clarkson S. Fisher Courthouse, 402 East State Street, Room 2020, Trenton, NJ 08608, on or before January 20, 2012. Applications will also be accepted via e-mail at [email protected] ; however, the document must be in PDF format. Application forms and copies of the CJA Plan may be obtained from the Clerk of Court in Newark, Trenton and Camden, or may be downloaded from the Court’s website at: www.njd.uscourts.gov , located under “CJA”. No application will be considered unless it is received no later than January 20, 2012.

The Court, in conjunction with the Office of the Federal Public Defender, the Association of the Federal Bar of the State of New Jersey and the Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys of New Jersey, has arranged annual training programs for new and experienced panel members. It is anticipated that the application and selection process to fill the vacancies for one-third of the CJA Panel will be completed on or before March 6, 2012. Any member of the CJA Panel whose term will expire on March 11, 2012, may apply for reappointment.