Courts· ProPublica

Lawyers in This State Are Allowed to Ghost Clients for Years. Why Don’t More Judges Stop Them?

By Samantha Melamed, ProPublica · November 9, 2026

One morning in July 2025, I was the lone spectator in Judge Frank Palumbo’s courtroom in Philadelphia, watching prosecutors and public defenders haggle over the fates of defendants. Palumbo paused the proceedings to talk to a lawyer he’d appointed to help a prisoner who had ineptly challenged his conviction. The…

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Lawyers in This State Are Allowed to Ghost Clients for Years. Why Don’t More Judges Stop Them?

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