The Legal Aid Roster
A district legal services authority must assign four tasks to five volunteer advocates: A, B, C, D and E. The bail application hearing is on Wednesday at 10 a.m. and requires at least two years of criminal practice. The mediation session is on Thursday at 11 a.m. and requires formal mediation training. The writ petition is due for filing on Thursday at 4 p.m. and requires at least three years of writ practice. The prison visit is on Tuesday at 11 a.m. and can be done by any volunteer. A has four years of criminal practice and is available only on Monday and Wednesday. B has two years of criminal practice and mediation training; B is available Monday to Friday but must leave by 3 p.m. C has five years of writ practice and is available only on Tuesday and Thursday. D has one year of criminal practice and mediation training; D is available Wednesday to Friday. E has one year of writ practice and mediation training; E is available Monday and Tuesday. No advocate can handle two tasks on the same day.
1. Prepare a valid assignment of all four tasks and identify the binding constraint that fixes at least one assignment.
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One valid roster. Bail on Wednesday at 10 a.m.: A, who has four years of criminal practice and is available Wednesday. Mediation on Thursday at 11 a.m.: B, who is trained and available Thursday before 3 p.m. Writ on Thursday at 4 p.m.: C, the only advocate with three or more years of writ practice and available Thursday. Prison visit on Tuesday at 11 a.m.: E, available Tuesday. This satisfies all hard rules: no same-day double booking, each task's skill threshold is met, and all deadlines are met.
Binding constraint. The writ task is the tightest because only C qualifies. That fixes C on Thursday. The bail task then must go to A or B; choosing A leaves B free for mediation. If B were used for bail, D could do mediation, but D's one year of criminal practice would not satisfy bail.
2. If B is suddenly required to appear in a criminal appeal on Thursday at 11 a.m., what is the least disruptive reallocation?
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If B is unavailable Thursday. B cannot mediate. D is trained in mediation, available Thursday, and has no same-day conflict. The revised roster is: bail-B on Wednesday, since B has two years of criminal practice and is available until 3 p.m.; mediation-D on Thursday; writ-C on Thursday; prison visit-E on Tuesday. This is the least disruptive change because it keeps C on the writ and uses the only other trained mediator. It also avoids asking A to cover bail when A is not needed.
3. If A and B are both unavailable for the bail hearing, can D be assigned? Explain the rule and the judgment call.
Read the worked answer
Can D do bail? No, not under the stated rule. The bail task requires at least two years of criminal practice; D has one. A legal services authority cannot simply ignore its own eligibility rule because it is busy. If no eligible advocate is available, the correct step is to seek a written, reasoned relaxation from the chair or the court, arrange a senior advocate's supervision, or seek an adjournment-not to treat D as automatically qualified. The judgment call is between delaying the hearing and exposing the client to incompetent representation; the safer course is a supervised appearance or a short adjournment.