Question:
Why
aren’t there specific workload drivers for appeals? Can the trial drivers or non-trial
drivers be used for appeals?
Answer:
Appellate
work is a critical component of our service to our indigent clients, and is an
essential aspect of the Federal Defender system. However, appellate-specific
workload drivers are not necessary to describe the resource requirements of
this aspect of our work.
While one appeal
may be significantly more complex than another, there are no clear distinctions
between districts regarding the
resource demands for an appellate docket – or rather, no distinctions likely to
be revealed by appellate workload drivers.
Recall that the time devoted to an appeal and (typically)
the underlying offense of conviction will be available in dData. If there are
offices with dockets of atypically-demanding appeals, that require more resources per case, that will be revealed by the task codes and timekeeping
entries.
Notably, there are now more granular task codes for appellate work in the revised dData system,
which will also provide important insights into resources required for appeals.
Trial drivers applied to appellate cases may also provide
insights into resource requirements. Trial drivers can be coded for appellate cases, and they will be
included in the data analysis. Some drivers that may be particularly useful may be
life exposure (in the underlying conviction), mental health issues, if they
complicate the pursuit of the appeal, and contested sentencing issues, if that
is one of the issues on appeal.
.
