Judiciary, lawyers to discuss funds, indigent clients

NEWRY – Lawyers from around the state will sit down today with members of the judiciary to discuss how the state’s continuing budget woes are affecting the court system, during the Maine State Bar Association’s summer meeting at Sunday River.

“The results of the inadequacies in funding will have profound impacts,” said MSBA President Brett Baber of Bangor, “including new court fees, cases being heard more slowly and uncertainty over court safety.”

One focus of the two-day program will be how to guarantee the constitutional right to adequate legal representation and meet the judiciary’s budget obligations.

Also on the agenda is a discussion about possible reforms to the amount and the way in which attorneys who represent indigent defendants in criminal cases are paid and whether oversight of the system is adequate.

Over the past seven months, two groups determined to look carefully at the problems have been formed.

Maine Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Leigh I. Saufley in February formed a 30-member Indigent Legal Services Commission headed by Supreme Judicial Court Justice Robert W. Clifford. Last month, she said it has begun working.

Its report is due on Nov. 14 before the new Legislature convenes so recommendations can be presented to lawmakers.

Criminal defense attorneys also are rallying to change the system. A group in January formed an organization to offer input and to advocate for attorneys who represent indigent clients.

Attorney Robert Ruffner of Portland founded the Maine Indigent Defense Center with two other attorneys. Ruffner, according to information on the center’s Web site, started the group so indigent defendants and criminal defense attorneys would have input in fixing what many believe is an outmoded, ineffective system.

According to the group, Maine fails all but one of the 10 benchmarks set by the American Bar Association for providing competent legal assistance to indigent defendants.

Ruffner is scheduled to participate today in a session at the MSBA meeting.

Rep. Tom Allen, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate running against Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, will speak to the group Saturday. Collins will not be attending, according to the MSBA.

The MSBA is a professional and public service organization of more than 3,100 lawyers licensed to practice in Maine. The organization works to promote its members’ professionalism and advance their skills and knowledge, helping them meet the legal needs of all Maine people and to advance Maine’s system of justice.

jharrison@bangordailynews.net

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