Top Beacon Hill Democrats offered no timeline Monday for a resolution to a months-long work stoppage of private attorneys who are pushing lawmakers to raise the hourly rate they are paid to take on the criminal cases of people who are unable to afford representation.

Judges have already released defendants this month because they did not have access to legal counsel as a result of the strike. Last week they began dismissing charges. At the same time, lawmakers and attorneys are still locked in a battle over an increase to hourly pay, with some lawyers seeking a $35 spike this year and $25 next year.

But House Speaker Ron Mariano said discussions with attorneys are “not traditional” because each lawyer is an individual contractor who might not agree to a deal that their colleagues have signed on to.

“It’s hard to foresee where a middle ground might be, one that works for everybody, because each one of these folks is an individual contractor,” Mariano told reporters at the State House Monday. “So you may be talking to someone who only represents five people. You don’t know. So you make an agreement with five people, then you get to do it 55 more times.”

Senate President Karen Spilka declined to offer insight into negotiations, saying “nope” when asked if she could provide more details on talks.

“Discussions are happening right now and we’re trying to work it out,” Spilka said without providing a specific timeline for when a deal could emerge.

Attorneys stopped working in May as part of a protest to what they argued were some of the lowest wages in the region to represent indignant defendants. The 2,800 lawyers known as bar advocates represent roughly 80% of people who cannot afford an attorney.

The state’s highest court turned to an emergency protocol earlier this month that allows for defendants’ release or, after 45 days, the dismissal of their cases if they do not have access to a lawyer.

Lawyers working homicide cases make $120 an hour. Attorneys taking on Superior Court cases earn $85 an hour. Those attorneys are still working.

But lawyers working at the district court level, where the compensation sits at $65 an hour, stopped taking news cases in May. Proposals to increase the rates as part of the Senate’s state budget debate were unsuccessful.

Legislators have argued that increasing wages by $35 an hour could cost the state $100 million at a time when Massachusetts is facing fiscal challenges like federal funding drying up under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Spilka said “there were no discussions” about wage increases before Gov. Maura Healey released her fiscal year 2026 state budget in January.

“There were no discussions prior to that. Nothing was in the governor’s budget. The House came out with their budget in April. Nobody raised anything about the need for more funding or the concern about the funding. The Senate came out with some increase. That was rejected. So we are now trying to resolve the issue and work it out,” she said.

Healey said she wants to see a resolution to the work stoppage “immediately.”

“I am hopeful that we will see one very soon, and that will be announced at the appropriate time,” the first-term Democrat said.