Frustrations continue for attorneys billing Wayne County Indigent Defense Services Department
The Wayne County Indigent Defense Services Department — the office that coordinates defense attorneys for those who can't afford one — is responding to claims we brought up in December about delayed payments to lawyers or no payments at all.
In December 2024, CBS News Detroit reported these frustrations have led some attorneys to stop working with Wayne County IDSD. Those who remain active claim they are still dealing with these issues, and they say the people who are supposed to help them have been ineffective.
"Email our finance division, and we can see if we can see it in the county software. We can certainly tell you the check numbers when the disbursement happened. So we provide that avenue for any service provider, and they take advantage of it, and we are happy to help," said Wayne County IDSD Director Robin Dillard-Russaw.
Defense attorney Nicole Saady did just that for unpaid invoices she said she billed months ago, and she said it wasn't all that much help, even when noticing an error on the county's end.
"I did reach out to indicate the error of overpayment before final approval, and that was not responded to. I sent it to tech; I sent it to finance, and it was not responded to. They went ahead and approved the payment anyway," Saady said.
She says she now owes the county that money back on top of what they still owe her.
Another attorney says he just got paid for work he did back in 2023. He says he exchanged emails with the finance department for nearly eight months before he started getting answers.
"My biggest problem is when I would send an email, sometimes I would get a response, sometimes I didn't. But I'd have to characterize the communication as being the worst part of my interaction with the finance department," said defense attorney Gary Anderson.
When it comes to attorneys leaving Wayne County, Dillard-Russaw says it's minimal.
"I am not aware of any attorney leaving the roster or asking for inactivity because of payment other than one or two that have been very vocal recently," she said.
Saady claims this number is at least a half dozen, and the impacts will trickle down to those who are most vulnerable.
"The issue is what happens to the people facing prosecution in my home," Saady says.
Dillard-Russaw says part of the issue could be invoices submitted with errors. That can reset the approval process if an attorney needs to resubmit their invoice to clear up these errors.
She claims the finance department is supposed to be there to help guide attorneys through that process, but according to these lawyers, it doesn't seem to be as helpful as intended.
