Katherine Hollister Moore

Mrs. Moore, a public defender appointed to me, treated me with respect and humanity. There wasn't an obsessive amount of communication, but it was quality and far more than any court appointed attorney typically delivers. She was thorough, heard my side, told me my options, made sure I understood ev...erything, offered realistic advice, and let me decide what worked for me best in the end. I felt she did all that could be done and more than the majority of attorneys would. Not in a proud way, but in all honesty I've got a lot of history working with attorneys both paid and court appointed, generally there is a big difference in how your case gets handled. Even with the case load of a public defender, thirteen cases the same date as mine to be specific, she still managed to contact me before court and meet privately there, which is common for high priced private attorneys, but out of sixteen court appointed I've had represent me, she is the first to do both. Out of them all, ten of the attorneys I never talked to at all until the day of court within five minutes of seeing the judge and briefly spoke to a secretary to say what I needed to beforehand and have had three literally mix up my case and represent an entirely different person in the proceedings until that was pointed out by the judge or Commonwealth. Trust me, getting heard at all is a big accomplishment. My expectations are realistic, not what a book or some law nobody actually enforces states standards to be, but what truly is standard; Mrs. Moore is a unicorn in a sea of ponies! I was not a chip to bargain with for her big ticket real clients, my best interest was her priority and being treated like a human made what sucks much easier to accept.