I am not passing blame on any political party by sharing the link. I think it is horrible policy to have someone perform a service and not pay them or delay the payment. Attorneys who take court appointments are in the same situation. The money to pay court appointed attorneys ran out a while ago. Keeping in mind the Maine and United States Constitutions require that individuals who are indigent and face a real risk of jail be provided with attorneys at taxpayer expense. The earliest a court appointed attorney can expect to be paid is the second week of July. That is approximately one month without any pay for court appointments. If no budget is passed before July 1, 2013 then no court appointed attorney will be paid until a budget is passed. However, you are expected to do the work. In addition to not getting timely paid there is no increase cost to taxpayers or windfall to the attorneys for the delay in payment like the hospitals will get. To add to this, court appointed attorneys have been working at the same hourly rate since 1999. Since then the cost of running a law office has increased substantially. The rate of $50 per hour does not go a long way. Between basic office supplies (paper, note pads, staplers and staples, etc), computers, printers, calendaring, postage, malpractice insurance, general liability insurance, gas, collect calls from jail, legal research materials, photocopies, suits, shoes, ties, and so forth there is very little left for the attorney to pay themselves. Additionally, you cannot afford to hire assistants at this rate. Prosecutors do not have to pay for office supplies, assistants, investigators, and the like. Additionally, they paid every two weeks. Again, I want to encourage everyone to write their legislators to seek appropriate and timely pay for court appointed attorneys.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:35:46 +0000
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