Section 649-301-7 - RESOURCE COUNSEL1. Resource Counsel may bill pursuant to Section 6(4), above, for any billable tasks outlined in subsection 2 and subject to the limitations in subsection 3 of this section.2.Billable Tasks:A. Meeting with Court-Assigned, Commission-Assigned, and Commission- Employed Counsel upon the written request of the Executive Director.B. Meetings and other communications with Court-Assigned, Commission- Assigned, and Commission-Employed Counsel about the practice of law or ethical or legal issues related to assigned cases.C. Assisting Court-Assigned, Commission-Assigned, and Commission- Employed Counsel with drafting documents and with litigation preparation for assigned cases.D. Meetings and other communications with members of the judiciary or prosecution about matters pertaining to indigent representation upon the written request of the Executive Director.E. Preparing and presenting trainings at the request of the Executive Director or Training & Supervision staff.F. In-court observation of Counsel if requested by the Executive Director or PDS Training & Supervision staff.G. Responding to calls, emails, and/or webform submissions from individuals who contact PDS through the PDS hotline and/or website. This includes: (1) Communication with the person who called;(2) Communication with others to address the individual's matter; and(3) Limited scope representation undertaken to resolve urgent issues for indigent persons concerning matters for which the person would be entitled to appointment of Counsel.H. Other tasks as deemed appropriate by the Executive Director and with prior written authorization of the Executive Director.3.Limitations:A. Any services rendered as Resource Counsel must be strictly limited to matters relating to assigned-not retained or pro bono-cases.B. Resource Counsel may not bill for services rendered to an attorney who is not a Court-Assigned, Commission-Assigned, or Commission-Employed counsel.C. If Resource Counsel serves as co-counsel on an assigned case, then Resource Counsel must enter the case in the Commission's electronic case management system and bill for it as a typical case, not as Resource Counsel.D. Prior to preparing a training at the Commission's request, Resource Counsel must have prior written authorization from the Executive Director or PDS Training & Supervision staff, which must include a cap on the maximum number of hours the Commission will pay Resource Counsel to prepare and present the training.E. Resource Counsel must be licensed to practice law in Maine and eligible to accept PDS case assignments at all times while performing Resource Counsel duties. Resource Counsel will not be paid for work done unless Resource Counsel is licensed to practice law in Maine and eligible to accept PDS case assignments.F. As a condition of the opportunity to serve as Resource Counsel, Resource Counsel must maintain detailed records of the services they perform and provide copies of those records to PDS upon request. At a minimum, those records must include:(1) The number of attorneys to whom Resource Counsel services are rendered; and(2) A running log of the number of hours Resource Counsel spends on:(a) Rendering general Resource Counsel services to attorneys;(b) Rendering client-specific services; and(c) Preparing and presenting trainings.G. Resource Counsel will not be paid for billing more than 40 hours in one seven-day period.H. Resource Counsel do not develop any property interest in the opportunity to serve in that role. There is no guarantee that PDS will provide any number of hours to Resource Counsel.I. Resource Counsel may not incur any expenses of any type on behalf of PDS without prior written approval from the Executive Director.4. Court-Assigned and Commission-Assigned Counsel may bill pursuant to Section 6(4), above, for time spent receiving the services of Resource Counsel.94-649 C.M.R. ch. 301, § 7