State says no pay til July; longtime Lewiston defense attorney moves on

AUBURN — Henry Griffin was in the Androscoggin County courtroom on May 19, doing what he'd been doing for the past 25 years, advocating for the underclass.

Griffin, 55, had been one of dozens of defense attorneys listed on the roster of the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services for the local courts, paid by the state to defend Mainers who can least afford it.

That chapter of his life drew to a close May 19; Griffin said he could no longer afford to take on those cases that comprised roughly 90 percent of his legal workload.

With one child in college, another starting in the fall and a third likely to seek higher education in a couple of years, Griffin needed a steadier income. As a self-employed defense attorney whose practice relies on contractual payments from a state that has underfunded its budget earmarked for indigent defendants' attorneys fees, Griffin was feeling the pinch.

Read more: http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston-auburn/2017/05/27/state-says-no-pay-til-july-longtime-lewiston-defense-attorney-moves/2133475