Editorial Advisory Board: Increase filing fees to ensure access to justice

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One of the cornerstones of our civil society is the belief that all people, regardless of race, religion, or income level, should have access to an impartial and reliable legal system. This conviction, always deeply held among the members of the Bar, is put into action every day by the thousands of public interest and pro bono attorneys who make up Maryland’s legal services community. Historically, Maryland lawyers, both through the organized bar and on an individual basis, have provided support to this cause in the form of financial support as well as commitments of time and services. It is always a challenge to provide adequate service to this underserved community, but in this struggling economy, the ability of these committed lawyers to help the poor and disenfranchised of our state is under serious threat.

The problem is that one of the main funding sources for our legal services community is the Interest on Lawyers Trust Account Program (IOLTA). These funds help support 35 programs throughout Maryland including the Legal Aid Bureau, Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service, House of Ruth, Maryland Disability Law Center, Women’s Law Center, and others providing legal assistance in the fields of family law, foreclosure, housing, employment and other issues. With interest rates dropping to new lows, these accounts are producing ever diminishing returns. In fiscal year 2008, IOLTA accounts generated $6.7 million in income. In fiscal year 2009 they declined by 45 percent to less than $4 million. For the upcoming fiscal year, the outlook is for a precipitous drop, with IOLTA funds projected to dip below the $2 million mark. At the same time, the demand for legal services for the poor has increased dramatically, with Legal Aid alone serving 64 percent more clients than before, while turning away 73 percent more.

This freefall in funding, combined with the added pressure of thousands of new clients created by the national recession, has made for a perfect storm that could decimate Maryland’s legal services community and leave those who need representation more adrift than ever.

How do we solve this crisis? One obvious solution would be to pursue an appropriation for legal service providers from the Maryland General Assembly. Indeed, states like California, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Virginia have done just that, giving multi-million dollar infusions of cash to their ailing legal service communities. In Maryland this idea has yet to gain traction, and with current budgetary constraints it seems unlikely to gain support in the near future.

There is, however, another option available — an increase in Maryland’s Circuit and District Court filing fee surcharge.

Maryland, despite being one of the wealthiest states in the nation, has some of the lowest Circuit and District Court filing fees in the area. Our average Circuit Court filing fee of $105 is almost half the same fee in New Jersey or North Carolina. Pennsylvania charges a whopping $303 fee for the filing of civil actions in Circuit Court. An increase in these fees in Maryland, with the increase allocated to legal services organizations, could go a long way toward a longer-term solution and provide a stable funding source for legal services organizations.

Maryland enacted a $25 surcharge in 2004 to benefit legal services organizations, and it is time to increase that surcharge to ensure the continued access to justice these entities provide.

Some will argue that increasing the filing fee will represent yet another bar to the poorest citizens in gaining access to justice. But a modest increase in the fee surcharge is unlikely to prevent substantial numbers of people from having their claims heard. Instead, the increase would bring our fee structure in line with our peers, while helping to solve the largest crisis our legal services community has seen in decades.

No solution will be easy, but we need to ask ourselves — is doing nothing an acceptable alternative? With the bottom about to fall out of the funding pool, it’s up to the legal community to act. Whatever path it takes, it needs to do so with a clear voice and a renewed commitment to the public interest. The traditions of the Maryland Bar demand nothing less.