Lawyers in This State Are Allowed to Ghost Clients for Years. Why Don’t More Judges Stop Them?

In Philadelphia, Judge Frank Palumbo recently advised a lawyer representing a prisoner that the prisoner's case was likely going to be dismissed due to flawed challenges to his conviction. The judge offered to pass along a brief that supported this conclusion. This situation highlights a concerning trend in Pennsylvania's courtroom practices: lawyers are writing "Finley letters" which argue against their client's claims with minimal investigation, often without even speaking to the client or contacting other legal representatives.

This issue persists due to lax rules, low pay, heavy caseloads, and a lack of oversight from judges who continue to assign cases to lawyers who fail to meet basic obligations. Over the past year, ProPublica has investigated the post-conviction system in Pennsylvania and uncovered numerous examples of judges allowing these subpar legal services to continue, often despite clear evidence of ineffective representation.