State
Public Defenders' Office To Absorb Cases
Private
Lawyers Owed $2.4 Million
June 20, 2011|By JOSH KOVNER, jkovner@courant.com
HARTFORD – — The state agency that
pays private lawyers to represent poor parents and children in child-protection
cases has run up such a gaping deficit and owes the lawyers so much money that
the agency has been abolished; its work will be folded into the public
defenders' office starting July 1.
Nearly 200 private lawyers are owed
as much as $2.4 million by the Commission
on Child Protection – which had overspent its budget by
$3.8 million at one point late last year. That was the largest deficit, by
percent of budget, of any agency of state government.
on Child Protection – which had overspent its budget by
$3.8 million at one point late last year. That was the largest deficit, by
percent of budget, of any agency of state government.
Most of the lawyers devote at least
80 percent of their practice to this work, which includes defending parents who
face losing custody of their children in neglect cases brought by the
Department of Children and Families. The lawyers, who also represent children
in court, haven't been paid since October or November in many cases. The
lawyers were billing for $40 or $75 an hour, depending on training.
In interviews, several of the lawyers
questioned where the agency's money was going, since they weren't being paid.
They said after agency head Carolyn Signorelli was questioned by the
legislature's appropriations committee about the huge deficit late last year,
the agency tried to reduce costs by refusing or delaying payment for legal work
– work that the office had been encouraging the lawyers to do.
"Carolyn Signorelli told us to
file motions, to do battle, to be aggressive, to take cases to trial,'' said
one contract lawyer who is owed nearly $25,000. "Then there was a real
backlash against those same lawyers in the name of controlling the mess that
they created in that agency."
"The bottom line,'' the lawyer
said, "is that you can't not pay people for months and expect them to
continue to do their jobs at a high level.''
Another lawyer said child-protection
attorneys are still working hard and representing their clients effectively,
but that the breakdown in payments has pushed small law offices to the brink,
and caused personal financial crises and family problems.
crises and family problems.
"Everyone else in the courtroom
is getting paid but us,'' the other lawyer said. "I can't hire experts. I
can't go visit a child out of state. I've had clients call their state
representatives and say, 'Pay my lawyer. I need resources.' When I came on,
this was promoted to me as important work. I wound down other areas of my
practice to take this on. I did it because I felt I could make a difference.''
Signorelli, who improved training at
the agency and raised the hourly rate that lawyers could charge, said caseloads
have risen and the office didn't have enough money to pay the lawyers for the
time they were putting in.
"We asked for $13.8 million
from the legislature and got $11.6. At the same time, lawyers were billing us
for more hours per case than ever before. We had to institute caps, but there
wasn't enough time to address the deficit,'' Signorelli said.
Asked if the lawyers were billing
excessively, Signorelli said, "No.The hours were consistent with standards
and caseload studies we did.''
The appropriations committee had
questioned the need for 196 contract lawyers.
Susan Storey, the state's chief
public defender, said the lawyers will be paid for the work they did.
"That needs to be honored.
We're waiting for the budget-deficiency money to come into our office. Going
forward, we think there are areas we can renegotiate and revamp to do this work
within the appropriation we're given.''
Storey said the lawyers will be paid
a flat rate of $500 per case, plus $50 an hour for trial work.
She said a team of state public
defenders with juvenile and child-protection experience or training will take
on some of the casework.
Some of the private lawyers,
meanwhile, wonder what the board members who were supposed to be overseeing the
agency were doing as the child-protection office careened toward extinction.
Paul Chill, a law professor at the
University of Connecticut and a board member, acknowledged that the board often
failed to field a quorum of commissioners at meetings. When there's no quorum,
a board can't vote or take any action.
He said it was appalling that the
private lawyers hadn't been paid, but said the child-protection office, formed
in the middle part of the last decade, has always been underfunded. He said the
agency's budget hasn't increased significantly in the last six years, even as
the caseload has risen dramatically.
He said Signorelli improved training
for the lawyers so that they could become certified in child-welfare law and
bill at a higher rate. He said the quality of the advocay work that was done
during Signorelli's tenure increased each year.
"No one wanted that deficit
last year, and it's lousy the lawyers weren't paid. But it's hard to set a
budget when people are billing hourly and you don't know how much you're going
to have to pay out. At the same time, you want the lawyers to put in the time
because you want vigorous representation. It's difficult – and I don't think
you can lay this at the feet of Carolyn.''
Chill said one option to save money is have more
full-time state lawyers take on the work as part of their duties, and have
fewer contract lawyers.
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