(a) An attorney, whether retained or appointed, who enters a post-indictment appearance shall
continue to represent the defendant until the case is dismissed, the defendant is acquitted, or the direct
appeal is completed unless the attorney is granted leave to withdraw by the District Court or the Court of
Appeals if notice of appeal has been filed.
(b) In cases where appointments under the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) have been made to a mentee
attorney under the CJA mentorship program, the mentee attorney shall file an appearance that clearly
states that the attorney is appointed as a mentee. A mentee shall work on the case only under the
direction of the appointed CJA attorney serving as a mentor. The mentee shall not appear in court unless
under the in-person supervision of the appointed CJA attorney assigned as a mentor. If the CJA attorney
assigned as a mentor is allowed to withdraw, the mentee shall also be relieved as counsel in the case.
(c) Mentor-mentee pairings normally should be limited to one pairing per defendant in a case.
(d) Except for the automatic withdrawal of a mentee attorney provided in subsection (b), an attorney
who has appeared in a criminal case may thereafter withdraw only by written motion served upon the
defendant personally or at the defendant's last-known address and upon all other parties. The Court may
deny a motion to withdraw if the attorney's withdrawal would unduly delay trial of the case, or be unfairly
prejudicial to any party, or otherwise not be in the interest of justice.
(e) The United States Attorney shall advise the Clerk and the District Judge to whom the case is
assigned regarding any change in the attorney for the United States responsible for the prosecution.
COMMENT: LCrR 57.1 should be read with Fed. R. Crim. P. 44.
COMMENT: By Administrative Order 24-AO-011, effective June 1, 2024, the Court
adopted temporary amendments to LCrR 57.1 to implement a pilot mentorship program
proposed by the Federal Community Defender’s Office and adopted by the Court. The
temporary amendments add subsections (b) and (c), governing appearances by mentee
attorneys.
June 1, 2024
United States District Court
Eastern District of Michigan
