Court fees increased to help boost aid to poor

June 29, 2012

Hartford, Connecticut: Court filing fees will be increasing in Connecticut for certain civil and family cases. These raised fees are in hopes to fund extra money to help Connecticut's neediest in handling case problems involving eviction all the way to domestic violence.

Legal aid for the needy has taken huge hits across the nation, as the main source of revenue, lawyer's trust account interest, has dwindled. According to the American Bar Association, revenue has dropped 74 percent across the nation, $371 million dwindled to $95 million, 2007-2010 respectively.

According to the Connecticut Bar Foundation, Connecticut has not been any better, as trust account revenue for legal aid to the poor has dropped from 20 million dollars in 2008 all the way to only 1 million for 2012. As a result, the three legal aid providers of the state have had to have reductions to staff and services.

Without this extra money from the fee increases, generating an extra 5 million dollars, legal aid providers have stated they would have to cut more staff and services. "Without this recent action by the governor and legislature, we would have had to lay off a quarter more of the staff," said Steven Eppler-Epstein, executive director of Connecticut Legal Services. Staff there have been cut 10-15 percent in these recent years.

Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers gave a speech to the Connecticut Bar Association about her concerns of the growing number of citizens representing themselves in court, as the drop in legal aid has forced many people to represent themselves, or not even go to court to fight for their rights.

"We are going to have serious problems continuing to provide quality justice unless we tackle this issue head on," Rogers said.

While some do not agree with the fee increases, fearing that it is not fair to low-income people who cannot afford lawyers, many see the fee increases as vital to helping provide justice.

See also

Connecticut judicial news