Amendment #514 to H4200

Cap Waiver in Certain Circumstances

Mr. Fernandes of Milford moves to amend the bill by adding the following new SECTION:-

SECTION __.  Section 11 of chapter 211D of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subsections (b) and (c) and inserting in place thereof the following:-

(b) The committee shall set an annual cap on billable hours not in excess of 1650 hours, provided however that such limitation shall not apply, if the chief counsel of the committee determines that a waiver shall be allowed due to: i.) Limited availability of qualified counsel in a geographic location or practice area, ii.) Requirements for expertise rendering assignment to certain service providers would be more cost effective, or iii.) Demonstrated efficiency of the service provider shows that shifting the service to other providers would reduce the quality and increase the cost of the service.  However, in no circumstance shall private counsel exceed 1850 billable hours. Counsel appointed or assigned to represent indigents within the private counsel division shall not be paid for any time billed in excess of the annual limit of billable hours.  It shall be the responsibility of private counsel to manage their billable hours.

(c) Any counsel who is appointed or assigned to represent indigents within the private counsel division, except any counsel appointed or assigned to represent indigents within the private counsel division in a homicide case, shall be prohibited from accepting any new appointment or assignment to represent indigents after that counsel has billed 1350 billable hours during any fiscal year, provided however, that the limitation shall not apply if the chief counsel for the committee determines that a waiver shall be allowed due to factors set out in subsection (b) of this section.