The Cost of the Civil Justice System, Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General,
http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/ 
CLick here for Report

 

 

State Legislative Funding (Court Fees & Fines and Appropriations)
Changes, 2005 Session, as reported to Meredith McBurney as of 6/30/05 *

 

New

AR – “Reopening” fee for civil case filings.   Approximately $340,000 annually

TX - New appropriation, created from anticipated increased revenue from improved collections of fines and fees by local county clerks.  $1,500,000.

Reinstated

CO – Appropriation that was eliminated in 2004 because of state budget crisis. $500,000 annually.  

 

KY – Part of appropriation that had been rescinded in 2004 was returned and then retained for 2005.  Back to $1,500,000 from $970,000.

 

Increased

IL – Appropriation increased from $472,900 to $2,000,000.

LA – Appropriation increased from $300,000 to $460,000.

ME – New laws doubled fee on fines from $5 to $10; increase from $600,000 to $900,000 in 05-06, to approximately $1,200,000 in 06-07.

MN – Appropriation increased from $7,300,000 to $12,300,000.  Revenue source is $4 fee increase on real estate document filings.

MT – Filing fee for dissolution of marriage increased by $10, expected to generate an additional $75,000.  However, legislature only provided for spending authority of $35,000.  So, increase for next full year should be from $75,000 to approximately $110,000.

NH – Appropriation increase passed and awaiting governor’s signature.  From $240,000 to $970,000, to fund a new office in NH’s second largest city and to add advocates to other offices.

WA – Appropriation increased from $6,600,000 to $8,100,000.

Decreased
FL - Lost state appropriation of $1,500,000 after the legislature increased it to $4,900,000, and then Governor Bush vetoed.

Net changes, to date:  Increase of $11,092,100 minus decrease of $1,500,000 = $9,592,100**

If include reinstated funds of $1,030,000, net increase = $10,622,100**

TOTALS

Court fees and fines =  69,688,500
Appropriations =           80,823,500

Total =                     150,512,000

*Prepared by Meredith McBurney, Director, ABA PERLS Project.  

**These numbers exclude “automatic” changes, e.g. filing fee increases because of more cases being filed, increases built into legislation passed in earlier years, etc.  These will show in final reports.

Low-Income Mississippians to Obtain Increased Legal Aid as Mississippi Supreme Court Provides $100,000 in Out-of-State Lawyers Fees to Legal Aid and Pro Bono Programs
This week, the Mississippi Supreme Court distributed $51,000 to the Mississippi Center for Legal Services, $34,000 to LSC grantee North Mississippi Rural Legal Services, and $15,000 to Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Mississippi Bar. The $100,000 comes from the $200 fee that the court charges out-of-state lawyers who practice in Mississippi ’s courts.  Ben Cole, executive director of North Mississippi Rural Legal Services, says the funding will enable the organization to help more people, noting, “We are stretched very thin.  Right now, we have a shortage of attorneys, especially in the Delta offices.”  Mississippi Supreme Court, Press Release: Supreme Court Distributes Civil Legal Assistance Funds ( May 6, 2005 ) Brennan Center ).  See also Legal Services E-lerts of Aug. 1, 2003 & July 30, 2004 . (Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, http://www.brennancenter.org/) 

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Tries to Boost IOLTA Revenue by Insisting That Rates of Return on IOLTA Accounts Be Comparable to Rates on Similar Accounts
After a period in which interest rates were at 40-year lows, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is asking Pennsylvania’s financial institutions to ensure that the rate of returns on Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) are comparable to the rate of returns on similar accounts.  In an effort to increase the amount of revenue IOLTA accounts generated for Pennsylvania’s civil legal aid organizations, the court has amended its state ethics and disciplinary rules, stipulating that the interest on IOLTA accounts “shall not be less than the highest rate or dividend generally available from the financial institution to its non-IOLTA account customers when the IOLTA account meets or exceeds the same minimum balance and other account eligibility qualifications applicable to those other accounts.”  Previously, the rule required only that the rate of interest on IOLTA accounts not be less than the rate on interest-bearing checking accounts.  Michael Reed, an IOLTA Board member and Pennsylvania Bar Association president, says that financial institutions in Pennsylvania have followed the court’s rule on IOLTA accounts in the past and he “expect[s] that they will continue to do so in the future.”  Melissa Nanne Burke, Legal Profession, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Shows Heightened Interest in IOLTA, Pennsylvania Law Weekly, Apr. 25, 2005 , at 7. (Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, http://www.brennancenter.org/)

New Washington State Rule Allocating 25 percent of Unclaimed Residuals in Class Actions to Civil Legal Assistance

Washington State Superior Court Rules
New language in Rule 23 on Class Actions (emphasis added) :

(f) Disposition of Residual Funds.

        (1) “Residual Funds” are funds that remain after the payment of all approved class member claims, expenses, litigation costs, attorneys’ fees, and other court-approved disbursements to implement the relief granted.  Nothing in this rule is intended to limit the parties to a class action from suggesting, or the trial court from approving, a settlement that does not create residual funds.

          (2) Any order entering a judgment or approving a proposed compromise of a class action certified under this rule that establishes a process for identifying and compensating members of the class shall provide for the disbursement of residual funds.  In matters where the claims process has been exhausted and residual funds remain, not less than twenty-five percent (25%) of the residual funds shall be disbursed to the Legal Foundation of Washington to support activities and programs that promote access to the civil justice system for low income residents of Washington State .  The court may disburse the balance of any residual funds beyond the minimum percentage to the Legal Foundation of Washington or to any other entity for purposes that have a direct or indirect relationship to the objectives of the underlying litigation or otherwise promote the substantive or procedural interests of members of the certified class. Adopted December 1, 2005 . Effective January 3, 2006 .

View complete rule at http://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/?fa=court_rules.adopted  

 

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