If the criminal process loses its adversarial character, the constitutional guarantee is violated. Difficulties in proving claims of ineffective legal assistance, recent court decisions limiting such claims, and severe underfunding of agencies providing legal services to the indigent seriously endanger the adversarial process and the integrity of the sixth amendment. Underfunding has resulted in excessive caseloads for public defenders and interferes with defense counsel's ability to effectively and competently represent the client. This has resulted in deficiencies in case investigation and preparation, insufficient consultation with the client, improper plea bargaining, over-reliance on guilty pleas, and insufficient input into the sentencing process. The legal profession, as well as the State, has a responsibility to ensure effective assistance of counsel. When, as a result of underfinancing, counsel is unable to pursue the defendant's cause competently and diligently, the mandate of the sixth amendment and the rights guaranteed in the Gideon decision are redefined so as to require mere presence rather than assistance of counsel. 340 footnotes.