Membership Requirements
Eligibility
Attorneys who serve on the CJA Panel must be members in good standing of the federal bar of this district and have demonstrated experience in, and knowledge of, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Federal Rules of Evidence, the Local Rules of this court, and the Sentencing Guidelines.
In addition, the attorney must:
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in the twelve months prior to the date of application, attend (in person or by video) training or continuing legal education programs on federal criminal defense as follows:
(1) persons either having served on the complex/major crimes panel (or the equivalent in another district) in the immediate past three years or having represented six criminal defendants in this district during this same time period must either attend all CJA training programs presented by the Federal Defender and/or Panel Selection Committee during that twelve month period or complete the minimum six hours set forth in subparagraph (2) below;
(2) all other persons must attend a minimum of six hours of such training or continuing legal education programs, at least three hours of which shall be devoted to federal sentencing; said training programs to qualify subject to the approval of the Panel Selection Committee;
- have professional liability insurance in the minimum amount of $100,000/$300,000; and
- demonstrate a commitment to provide high quality representation to those individuals eligible for their services.
Satisfaction of these minimum eligibility requirements does not assure that an applicant will be selected to serve on the CJA Panel.
[Plan VI.A.3.c.]
Criteria for Placement on the CJA Panel
In addition to satisfying the minimum eligibility requirements listed above, eligibility for the panel requires:
a. at least five (5) years criminal law experience (prosecution or defense); and
b. three (3) jury trials (state or federal), two (2) of which must have been criminal.
Satisfaction of these minimum eligibility requirements does not assure that an applicant will be selected to serve on the CJA Panel.
Application Materials
Members are appointed to serve two year terms, which shall commence on February 1 and run for two years thereafter. Members seeking readmission shall apply on or before December 31 of the year prior to the expiration of their membership term and shall use the CJA Renewal Application Form. Attorneys seeking to become a member of the CJA Panel must use the CJA Panel Application Form.
All applicants must submit the appropriate Application Form, as well as a W-9 form.
Submit the fully completed Application, Renewal Application and W-9 forms to the following address:
United States District Court
55 Pleasant Street, Rm. 110
Concord, NH 03301-3941
Attn: Abigail Tourville
Alternatively, the forms may be submitted via email using the "submit by email' function built into the forms.