Four court-appointed defense lawyers representing Young Thug and a dozen others in YSL’s racketeering and gang trial claim that they are on the verge of quitting due to being underpaid.
So far, one lawyer has already asked a judge if she could withdraw from the case.
Defense lawyer Angela D’Williams, who represents Rodalius Ryan, says the pay is “egregiously low for the amount of work and attention this trial requires.”
According to D’Williams, she is only getting paid $15,000 for a case that may last longer than a year. She claims that the state’s public defender council rejected her pay raise request.
“This is not fair,” D’Williams said. “I just want public defenders and conflict attorneys to know this is what they’re signing up for. It might consume a full year of your life.”
Regardless of the length of the trial, the Georgia Public Defender Council pays each attorney $15,000 to represent their clients.
“We’re looking at what–$7.25 an hour,” said Suri Chadha Jimenez, another lawyer who says their pay is too low.
“Nobody in this country should get paid $7.25 an hour, and definitely not somebody who is trying to protect the liberty of somebody else,” Jimenez said.
A spokesperson for the GPDC said, “The agency is open to meeting with the attorneys, though their demand for a payment of $33,260.00 per attorney and at least $15,000 per attorney per month going forward present considerable challenges.”
