In this chapter we consider the nationwide growth in the proportion of the population served by institutional defenders, and also early legislation by which municipalities in New York were authorized to provide public funds to private defender agencies. We then consider the impact of Gideon v. Wainwright, the landmark Supreme Court decision requiring the state to provide free legal services to all indigent defendants, on the nation’s defense systems. Thereafter, we examine New York State’s constitutional and legislative response to Gideon and analyze the principal features of New York City’s implementation of the constitutional and legislative mandate to provide counsel: its contract with the Legal Aid Society, and the Bar Association Plan for involving court-assigned private 18-B Panel attorneys.