The decade from 1963 to 1973 was marked by confusion and uncertainty for the many public defender systems that emerged in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on right to counsel in Gideon v. Wainwright (1963). Beginning in 1973, an era of standard setting and testing emerged as the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals promulgated standards and goals for the entire criminal justice system, including standards for prosecution and defense. The Criminal Defense Consortium (CDC) aimed to establish a public defender system that complied with these standards. The CDC's distinctiveness was in its neighborhood offices, early entry into a case, a public defender for each courtroom, social worker support services, community advisory councils, the use of law students, restricted caseloads, national statistical reporting procedures, and staff orientation and inservice training. The CDC received an excellent performance rating in an independent evaluation. 9 notes.