Step 3: Multiply Projected Caseload by the NPDWS Standards to get Annual Hours Needed
Next, you must apply the NPDWS standards (case weights) to your projected caseloads. Multiplying the standard by the number of projected cases, allows you to calculate the annual attorney time required to effectively represent those clients. This must be done for each case type.
For purposes of our examples going forward, we will use the 2026 caseload projection for Fictional Jurisdiction shown below.
Fictional Jurisdiction’s provider would first multiply the projected caseload of new Felony-High-LWOP cases (18) by the NPDWS standard for Felony-High-LWOP case (286 hours).
This calculation demonstrates that Fictional Jurisdiction would need 5,243 attorney hours to provide their clients with effective Felony-High-LWOP representation.
The provider would then repeat this process for each of the other 10 NPDWS case types. The table below shows the completed calculations for our Fictional Jurisdiction using the 2026 Projected Caseload.
To determine the total hours of attorney time necessary for effective representation of your projected annual caseload, you would add the attorney hours for all case types.
For Fictional Jurisdiction, adding the attorney hours needed for all case types yields a total of 975,949 attorney hours needed to effectively represent its clients in 2026.