Free Misdemeanor Panel Application - Maryland

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP ON THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT MISDEMEANOR PANEL FOR THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
The following Application is to be completed by attorneys requesting to represent defendants under the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland in misdemeanor cases. The Application is to be printed or typed.* 1. NAME Office Address: City/County Office Phone: Cell Phone/ E-Mail _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________State: _____________________Zip Code: ___________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________

Maryland U. S. District Court Bar No. _______________________________________________________________________ Social Security No. ________________________________________________________________________________________ * The CJA payment system REQUIRES a Social Security No. for all attorneys for identification purposes. The number will not appear on your voucher and will remain confidential. INCOME MUST BE CREDITED TO: Social Security No. ________________________ - OR - Employer Identification No. _______________________________ please provide 2. EDUCATION AND BAR ADMISSIONS: Graduated from ___________________________________________ Law School on: _________________________________ Admitted to practice in (please list jurisdiction of first admission) _________________________________________________ on __________________________________________. Admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland on ______________________________ Admitted to practice in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on ________________________________ 3. DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS: Have you ever been disciplined (or are you the subject of any pending disciplinary action) by the Bar of any jurisdiction or by any Court? _________ If so, please explain on a separate sheet of paper bearing your name and address, what the discipline was and the nature of the conduct that led to the disciplinary action. 4. Please indicate whether you have any special qualifications, such as fluency in a foreign language, which you believe the Selection Committee should be aware of in reviewing your application. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Please list prior trial experience in federal or state court: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Judicial Clerkship: No________ Yes_______________

If answer is yes, please provide the name of the Judge:_____________________________________________ 7. Condition of Membership To be a member of the misdemeanor panel you must certify that you are willing to attend the training programs, provided by the court at no cost, AND that you have read the CJA Misdemeanor Practice Manual. The manual is located on the court's web site at www.mdd.uscourts.gov in the CJA section.

You must volunteer for duty day assignments. We assign duty days to misdemeanor panel members two times a year for the next six month period, generally in May and December. Court staff check each docket to verify there is a sufficient number of initial appearances scheduled to insure appointments for the Office of the Federal Public Defender and the panel attorney. The CJA plan for the District of Maryland provides that 25% of CJA cases should be assigned to the panel and the remaining 75% are assigned to the Office of the Public Defender. However, there is always a possibility that changes to a docket may be required, or that clients may fail to appear. If there are insufficient cases to provide an appointment to the duty day attorney, then the court cannot compensate you for the time spent in court on your duty day. It is also the court's policy to limit claims for travel time to the actual driving time to each court location, not to exceed one hour, and your mileage reimbursement is limited to the lesser of your actual mileage or forty miles for each court appearance.

PLEASE NOTE: THE MAJORITY OF CJA CASES ARE ASSIGNED TO DUTY DAY VOLUNTEER PANEL MEMBERS

I certify that I have reviewed the CJA Misdemeanor Practice Manual and that I will attend the training programs for panel members provided by the court. I understand that failure to attend the training programs will result in my removal from the CJA misdemeanor panel.
I HAVE REVIEWED THE COURT'S POLICY REGARDING DUTY DAY ASSIGNMENTS. I AM WILLING TO VOLUNTEER FOR A DUTY DAY AT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING COURT LOCATIONS.

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION

__ BALTIMORE __ GREENBELT ___ ABERDEEN ___ ANDREWS AIR FORCE ____ HYATTSVILLE I declare under the penalties of perjury that the foregoing answers and statements are true and correct.

Date: ______________________________________________

________________________________ ______________ (Signature of Applicant)

The application should be sent to:

Donna P. Shearer, Esq. CJA Supervising Atty. 101 W. Lombard Street Room 8-A Baltimore, Md 21201

Misdemeanor

Revised 1/05