Steven Avery's defense lawyers Dean Strang, Jerry Buting still making news

Doug Schneider | USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Show Caption Hide Caption 'Making a Murderer:' Where are they now? A look at where the principals in the 'Making a Murderer' case have gone since the Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Yes, those were Steven Avery's famous former defense lawyers in a news photo out of Madison the other day.

Dean Strang and Jerry Buting were among the prominent Wisconsin attorneys petitioning for an increase in pay for lawyers who are appointed to represent defendants who can't afford to pay them.

The lowest-in-the-nation pay rate of $40 an hour hasn't changed in more than two decades, despite defense attorneys' annual requests for an increase. The Wisconsin State Journal reports it costs the average Wisconsin attorney almost $42 an hour to run a law practice, according to data from 2013.

RELATED: Avery rips Dean Strang, Jerry Buting via letter

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Strang and Buting flanked Milwaukee attorney John Birdsall as he called the issue "truly a constitutional crisis" that makes it very difficult to find quality defense lawyers, particularly in rural areas.

“We aren’t being hyperbolic here,” Birdsall said. “We’re not exaggerating the problem here so lawyers get more money.”

"The petition was filed by the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Wisconsin Association of Justice, along with a group of lawyers that includes State Bar of Wisconsin President Francis Deisinger, former state Supreme Court justices Janine Geske and Louis Butler, former state Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager and former Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann, and defense attorneys Dean Strang and Jerome Buting," the newspaper reported.

In other recent news involving key figures in the case that formed the basis for the "Making a Murderer" documentary:

» Salon broke the wall of lame comparisons between 'Making a Murderer' and Netflix's latest true-crime show to examine the recent growth of "true crime" as its own genre. This sets up a strong advance story on Netflix's "The Keepers."

Warning: Spoilers abound.

The piece also looks at parallels between the two series — the former students turned crusading investigators who are "the Buting and Strang" of the series — as well as key differences. The most obvious is that the villain in "The Keepers" is the never-been-caught killer, as opposed to the Manitowoc County criminal-justice system.

But the most significant, author Erin Keene writes: "Keepers director Ryan White takes pains to not fall into the trap of advocating too strongly for a conclusion the film can’t prove."

Colleague Shane Nyman has been watching The Keepers. Email him at snyman@postcrescent.com to let him know he should write about the series.

» As evidence that crime does pay, at least if you create a riveting documentary about it, 'Mam" film-makers Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi are now the proud owners of a $2.85 million SoCal mansion formerly owned by the conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

"The master suite has a glass-enclosed shower and a clawfoot soaking tub. There are four full bathrooms and three bedrooms, each with a walk-in closet," the Los Angeles Times rhapsodized. "Outside, a trellis-topped patio and decking open to a swimming pool. Lawns, hedges and a detached two-car garage are also within the property."

Click here to see the in-ground pool.

And then be jealous. Very, very jealous.

» Houstonian magazine name-checks 'MaM' in a story about "I Want to Live!," the 1958 movie classic slated to kick off a Museum's "Jazz on Film" series. So, there's that.

» Finally, if you'll be in Scotland in August, you'll have a chance to hear Buting in person.

He's scheduled to speak Aug. 14 at The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen.

Visit aberdeenperformingarts.com for tickets. (You can order by phone, too, but we couldn't figure out the calling codes.)

"As one of the show’s most compelling figures, defence (that's how they spell it over there) attorney Jerry Buting won the hearts of many," the organization's chief exec told the UK's Evening Express. “I’m confident this will be an absolutely fascinating evening and tickets are bound to sell quickly.”

RELATED: Kratz book: Don't believe 'Making a Murderer'

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► If you missed it, a recent survey showed that 22 percent of Wisconsin adults think that police fabricated evidence in the Avery case.