Editor's note: The court issued an order June 26 outlining a new fee schedule and setting rules and procedures for conflict counsel attorneys to recover their fees. The order was issued after the First Judicial District's Administrative Governing Board convened a special committee to review conflict counsel fees.

It's time to revamp the PCRA appointment system.

I am on the Philadelphia court-appointed list and have not signed up to do PCRAs, but I was still appointed on a PCRA case and might be appointed on a second one. I immediately declined the appointment, but was told I was not allowed to do so. Can I ethically decline the appointment?

The Philadelphia court system has been bogged down with numerous post-conviction hearing relief petitions filed by pro se petitioners. There are some lawyers who have asked to be appointed on PCRA cases, but they are quickly overwhelmed with the work. It's a very dangerous situation for a lawyer to be in. PCRAs take a lot of time and effort. Yet, the payment system is very poor. When one submits a fee petition, it is normally cut sometimes substantially. The biggest problem is one can't be timely paid. There are two payment times. First, after the PCRA is denied, which could take a year or two. One can then submit a petition. That will be reviewed and will take eight months to a year before that's approved and usually cut. The payment time is when one appeals the PCRA petition denial. That process could take another two years and there is no payment until the entire appellate process is completed. And then, again, it takes about six months to a year or more for approval and the fee is often cut.

In some of the counties, compensation of the PCRA is not much better. There are court-appointed lawyers in the counties who receive a flat fee no matter how many cases they receive. There are some counties that have one court-appointed counsel for PCRAs. It makes it almost impossible to handle the cases and do them correctly and diligently.