Differences between public defenders and private attorneys

[alleincali]

I'm in California

Is there a significant difference between a private attorney and a public defender (or a court appointed "private attorney" which some courts offer)?

What is the difference in case loads they take on at once?

If I get a "cheap" attorney ($1500 for a DUI case) will he care about my case about as much as a public defender? (spend the same amount of time on it)

Lastly, are most public defenders doing what their doing because they are passionate about their job and want to serve the community, or are they just low on cases/new to the practice/not good at what they do?

I'm just asking for a generalisation, I know everyone is different.

Thanks!

 

[dmcc10880]

Generally, PDs are overworked with heavy caseloads. They typically have little time to work with their defendants, so they can't really craft specific defenses for your DUI.

Private attorneys may be able to spend more time on your case. You'll likely have better representation with a private attorney.

You just can't ask for a PD, you have to prove to the court that you're indigent and can't afford an attorney.

 

[CdwJava]

If you are paying $1,500 for a "DUI attorney" then he or she is not that much of an expert in DUI.

A cheap criminal defense will run closer to $3,000 through jury trial, and with an expert in DUI you'd be looking at closer to $7,500-10,000 easy.

Public defenders do not have the time to waste on frivolous motions and busy work. A private attorney gets paid by the hour so he or she is more inclined to pull out the stops ... everything they do you pay for, so they have incentive to try most any moonshot they want.

And since most public defenders in CA tend to be private attorneys appointed by the court for contract work, the same guy you get for "free" today could be a guy you'd bay $200/hr if you hired him on your own.