Jennifer McAdam Makes Case for Strengthening Missouri State Public Defender Program
The Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association published Jennifer McAdam's (Insurance - Kansas City) report on the current status of the public defender's program in Missouri in its March 2009 issue of KC Counselor. "On the Verge of Collapse: The Missouri State Public Defender’s Caseload Crisis fully analyzes the current obstacles facing the program, and the potential consequences for the state if they are not resolved.
"Increasingly, indigent people accused of committing crimes are spending more time in jail and less time with the attorneys appointed to represent them," Ms. McAdam writes. "Since the 2002 fiscal year, the Missouri State Public Defender System (MSPD) caseload has increased by at least 12,000, while there has been no corresponding increase in full-time staff, including attorneys. In fact, the legislature has failed to provide any additional appropriations to the MSPD since 2000, making Missouri the lowest-funded statewide public defender system in the country."
Ms. McAdam is an associate in the insurance department. She concentrates her practice assisting corporate policyholders in handling and litigating a broad range of insurance disputes. Ms. McAdam served as law clerk to the Honorable Ronald Holliger, Missouri Court of Appeals from 2007 to 2008. During her law school summers, she worked as a legal intern in the Office of the New York State Attorney General and in the Summer Honors Program of the New York City Law Department. She also served as judicial intern to the Honorable Nina Gershon, U.S. District Court, E.D.N.Y. Prior to her legal career, Ms. McAdam worked in government relations and served as an intern in Congressman Dennis Moore's Washington, D. C. office.
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