PONTIAC -- Frustrated by low pay rates they say make it harder to adequately represent poorer clients, court-appointed attorneys in Oakland County are pushing for a raise, even though county officials say this year's budget is already set. Statistics show fees for court-appointed lawyers who represent clients too poor to hire their own counsel in Oakland County have gone up 11 percent since 1995, while prosecutors' pay rates have gone up nearly 48 percent. The last raise for defense lawyers, 0.8 percent, was in 1999. R. Diana Bare, former head of the Oakland County Bar Association's criminal law committee who addressed the board of commissioners last month, said the issue isn't about making money; it's about parity. Without adequate fees, more and more lawyers can't afford to take appointments.