In summary The report follows a CalMatters investigation highlighting problems with privatized public defense. That figure, which rivals some of the worst public defense caseloads in the nation, does not include the attorney’s private personal injury clients. The high caseloads in Kings are part of a new report on California’s privatized public defender systems, which leave criminal defendants in many rural counties without access to appropriate representation. The firm, Fitzgerald, Alvarez and Ciummo, has gained a reputation as the WalMart of public defense. “I was in complete shock,” she said of learning about the caseloads and practices of Madera’s public defense contractor.