Voucher Submission and Review Experience Survey FAQ

Why is this survey being done?

The purpose of this survey is to gather information on the experiences of CJA attorneys with the voucher submission and review process. To do that, we are inviting panel attorneys to answer questions about one of their recent cases, as well as provide general information about the eVoucher system in their district. When combined with answers from other attorneys, this information is representative of all CJA appointments.

What will this survey ask about?

We will be asking about your experiences with the voucher submission and review process in your district, both generally and with respect to a specific representation. Questions about the specific representation will include topics such as whether you made any requests for use of expert services and whether any reductions were proposed or ultimately made to any of your submitted vouchers. Note that our focus is on the processes for submitting vouchers and requesting experts, NOT the specific facts of the case or litigation strategy used. We will not be asking for any privileged or confidential information from this case.  

We will also ask if this appointment is representative of your experiences in this district and give you an opportunity to provide additional information regarding the voucher submission and review process, as well as suggestions for improvement.

Why do you need to ask me about a specific representation?

We are asking about a specific representation because it gives you a concrete reference point for your answers, and it gives us the ability to tie these detailed experiences to specific information from eVoucher. The eVoucher system can tell us the dollar amount of the originally submitted voucher and the amount of money the court ultimately paid on that voucher, but the system cannot tell us about what happens before a voucher is submitted or a payment is finalized. Your survey responses about these issues will allow us to provide important context to the eVoucher-based analysis.

Why was this representation selected?

This representation was randomly chosen from all of your CJA representations in eVoucher that had a final voucher paid between October 2016 and March 2021. Randomly choosing CJA appointments allows us to gather information on attorney experiences without emphasizing atypical cases. This makes our results more applicable to the broad range of CJA appointments.

Why are you only asking about one case?

By asking a large number of attorneys about a single, randomly-selected case, we will gather enough information to understand what CJA lawyers as a whole experience, without burdening any one attorney by asking the same questions about more than one appointment.

What if this appointment was unusual/not representative of my experience?

The last section of this survey asks if this appointment is representative of your experience with voucher submission and review in this district. This section will also provide an opportunity to offer additional information regarding the voucher process as well as any suggestions you have for improvement.

How are you going to make sure that these results are representative of CJA lawyers’ experiences?

Simply put; we will need your help. The more responses we receive, the more accurately the results will reflect the range of CJA lawyers’ experiences in various types of cases and across jurisdictions. Your participation is crucial to the representativeness of the results. 

How many panel attorneys are participating in this survey?

All panel attorneys who had a final voucher paid between October 2016 and March 2021 for representation of a CJA client have an opportunity to participate in this survey. 

Will my answers to this survey be shared?

No. Your answers will be held strictly confidential within the Federal Judicial Center (FJC). Information gathered from the surveys will only be reported in the aggregate and individual survey responses will NOT be shared outside of the FJC researchers analyzing this information. No information identifying the case, you as appointed counsel, or your participation in this survey will be reported in the analysis. 

Who requested this study? Why is it being done?

The Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States requested the Defender Services Committee work with the FJC to evaluate how courts were implementing the interim recommendations of the 2017 Report of the Ad Hoc Committee to Review the Criminal Justice Act, commonly called the Cardone Report, that were adopted by the Judicial Conference. This survey is one part of that evaluation.

How will the results be used?

A final report, which will include data from all parts of the research study, will be provided to the Defenders Service Committee upon completion, currently scheduled for June 2023. This final analysis of the implementation of interim recommendations will help inform the ongoing discussion of the final recommendation of the Cardone Report—that there should be an independent defender commission to administer the Criminal Justice Act in federal courts.

I have additional questions, who should I contact?

If you have any questions about participating in this survey, please contact our Research Team.