Byline: YANCEY ROY Gannett News Service
ALBANY -- There's a crisis brewing in finding qualified lawyers to represent poor people, advocates say. That's because New York hasn't changed the rates it pays court-appointed lawyers since 1986 and now ranks second-lowest in the nation, below states like Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas.
As a result, the pool of lawyers willing to take indigent cases is shrinking -- dramatically in some areas like Binghamton, Buffalo and Brooklyn. Turnover is also high.
It's had a spillover effect backlogging court dockets and stalling trials, lawyers and judges say. And it's taken a toll on the quality of legal …
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