The temporary director of Maine’s public defense agency likened his first month on the job to a doctor performing “triage” as he has tried to restore financial and operational integrity to a fraught state agency.
Justin Andrus intended to reopen his private law practice late last year, but instead was asked to help the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services, or MCILS, get back on track. It’s been one month since he joined as interim executive director of the agency responsible for training and supervising private lawyers who defend the poor against criminal charges and other legal matters on behalf of the state.