October 8, 1999

The Honorable Judd Gregg
Chairman, Subcommittee on Commerce,
Justice, State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. Senate
Room 146A
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Ernest Hollings
Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Commerce,
Justice, State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. Senate
160 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Subject: FY 2000 Funding for the Legal Services Corporation and the Judiciary’s Defender Services Program

Dear Mr. Chairman and Senator Hollings:

You will soon meet with your House counterparts to resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions of H.R. 2670, the FY 2000 funding bill for Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies. The American Bar Association (ABA) urges you and your colleagues to provide adequate funding for two essential programs that help guarantee equal access to justice: the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and the Federal Judiciary’s Defender Services Program.

The LSC received $300 million for FY 99 and the Senate has again approved $300 million for FY 2000. However, in its version of H.R. 2670, the House of Representatives has only provided $250 million for the LSC. The ABA urges you and your colleagues to retain the Senate’s appropriation of $300 million for this vital program.

The LSC is a model public-private partnership, funding locally operated programs which set local priorities and leveraging millions of other dollars and in-kind services. This program has been repeatedly endorsed by the ABA, by state and local bars, by religious leaders, by corporate CEOs and general counsels, by a strong bipartisan majority of both the House and Senate, and by large majorities of the American people.

I am one of the many corporate general counsel who strongly support the LSC – as the former general counsel for Phillips Petroleum Company, I worked closely with the local LSC program in Bartlesville, Oklahoma and established a program for my staff of lawyers to provide pro bono assistance to this office. Corporate counsel and law firms nationwide provide millions of dollars worth of pro bono service through local legal services offices every year. But despite the efforts of my former company and other corporations and law firms throughout the country, the legal problems of the poor cannot be addressed without a strong, well-funded Legal Services Corporation.

The ABA also requests that Congress provide sufficient funds -- including a direct appropriation and allowance for carryover funds -- to the Judiciary’s Defender Services program to allow for a panel attorney hourly rate increase to a flat $75. The Attorney General, the U.S. Judicial Conference and other national legal organizations also support this increase.

The House version of H.R. 2670 includes a $5 per hour raise for panel attorneys representing indigent defendants under the Criminal Justice Act (CJA). Current panel attorney hourly rates are $65 in-court/$45 out-of-court. The Senate-passed version of the bill provides a $10 raise to $75 in-court/$55 out-of-court. The Judiciary recently wrote an appeal letter to the conferees asking for sufficient funds to allow an hourly increase to a flat $75 per hour rate to be phased in by September 1, 2000.

Panel attorney hourly rates, currently $45 out-of-court and $65 in-court in most judicial districts, have been increased only once since 1986 – by $5. As a result, the “real dollar” value of these rates has declined by 35% over this period. An increase to a flat $75 per hour is critically needed this year to help ensure that competent attorneys continue to take CJA cases and to avoid unnecessary delays and retrials based upon ineffective assistance of counsel challenges.

Your support for adequate funding for both the Legal Services Corporation and the Judiciary’s Defender Services program would be most appreciated. Please do not hesitate to contact me if we can provide additional information.

Sincerely,

William G. Paul
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Individually addressed versions of this letter were also sent to Majority Leader Trent Lott and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.

cc:  Senate Conferees

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