There is a critical shortage of criminal defence lawyers in Alice Springs, with more than half of the publicly funded lawyers leaving in less than a year. This shortage is causing longer working hours for the remaining lawyers and an increase in self-representation in court cases.
JENNA CHARLES, NT LEGAL AID COMMISSION: I’m feeling a bit tired. It's getting late. I decided to stop work because I was starting to hit a bit of a wall. I've worked around 14 hours today and that is something that's been happening more and more with the shortage of lawyers here in Alice Springs .TEXT ON SCREEN: There is a critical shortage of criminal defence lawyers in Alice Springs .TEXT ON SCREEN: In less than a year, more than half of Alice Springs ' publicly funded lawyers have left.
JENNA CHARLES: At the moment, I know that there is 13 people in the cells at least.I noticed a number of defence lawyers were leaving the jurisdiction and seeking other employment opportunities but particularly in October and November last year there was a really large percentage of the legal profession here that left. I'm checking the court list to see what information I know about who’s on there to make sure that we can identify who is self-representing today, who we have files or paperwork to take down for, if they are a preexisting clien
Alice Springs Criminal Defence Lawyers Shortage Publicly Funded Lawyers Self-Representation Court Cases
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