There are two types of federal defender organizations: federal public defender organizations, whose staff are federal employees, and community defender organizations, which are incorporated as non-profitlegal aid organizations. There are 83 authorized federal defender organizations. These organizations employ more than 4,200 lawyers, investigators, paralegals, and support personnel and serve 92 of the 94 federal judicial districts.[2]
In a 2011 survey, Richard Posner and Albert Yoon found that federal judges perceived federal public defenders as providing higher quality representation than either privately retained counsel or attorneys appointed under the Criminal Justice Act.[3][4][5]
Salaries
By law, lawyers employed by Federal Public Defender offices have salaries set to match those of lawyers in the U.S. Attorney's office. The combination of salary, benefits and support team tends to attract, and more importantly retain, highly qualified attorneys. Especially in more rural areas, where federal criminal work is considered well-paid, many federal defenders have risen up through the state systems before becoming federal defenders.[6]
Case load
In 2014, the United States Sentencing Commission reported that there were 75,998 federal criminal cases in which an offender was sentenced in United States federal court.[7]
