The full seven-member Supreme Judicial Court will weigh in on a question that has loomed over the now months-long bar advocate work stoppage across Massachusetts — can individual judges set pay rates for court-appointed defense attorneys?

It’s a question that has come up several times since many private defense lawyers across the state stopped taking on new cases in late May amid a pay dispute with the state Legislature. Several judges have taken matters into their own hands since the work stoppage began, ordering lawyers be paid $100 an hour.

But the legality of those orders was always unclear, given that it is the Legislature’s role to control the state’s finances. One legal expert told MassLive in July that it was relatively cut and dry.

“The rates are set by the Legislature, n

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