Budget Amendment ID: FY2018-S3-886-R1

Redraft JUD 886

Emergency Waiver of Cap on CPCS Billable Hours to Ensure the Timely Right to Counsel

Messrs. Brownsberger and O'Connor moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting after section 100 the following section:-

“SECTION 100A. Notwithstanding subsections (b), (c) and (d) of section 11 of chapter 211D of the General Laws, in fiscal year 2018 the chief counsel of the committee for public counsel services or a designee may waive the annual cap on billable hours for individual private counsel appointed if the chief counsel finds that an emergency exists because counsel is not being appointed or assigned in a timely manner, as required by law, and that there is not sufficient qualified counsel in the practice area or the geographic area; provided, however, that counsel appointed or assigned to such cases within the private counsel division shall not be paid for time billed in excess of 2,000 billable hours. It shall be the responsibility of an individual attorney to manage the attorney’s billable hours. To be eligible for this waiver, the individual attorney shall apply to the chief counsel in writing. In the review and approval process, an individual attorney’s waiver application shall be considered along with a recommendation of the deputy chief counsel or department head and the committee for public counsel services’ audit and oversight department.”.