State to slash lawyers' pay from crime-victims fund

pure greed. No way any attorney would work for 30-60 an hour? First, I think he is wrong-second,where can I go load boxes for UPS?

It seems to me that this group of Atty were doing pretty darn good. Esspecially when you look at the A.G. numbers from (2004 to 2008). In four years they went from $76,047.00 to $1.32 million. Not bad for having a sheep skin. I wonder if their clients can say the same !

Train & arm the women.

The state has to cut. Oh well. Ditto to above.

But..... Thank God it HAS been there, or it would be next to impossible to find an attorney to assist with this stuff - often for legally unsophisticated and poor people who can find timely help in no other way. Actual billable hours may be only a small portion of the actual time spent on these cases. Our family would be STILL paying for a son's medical bills without acess to this fund and help to get the access. Thank you VOC and a wonderful lawyer - and she has never even charged the VOC!

First. I am not an attorney collecting CPO fees from the Crime Victim Compensation Fund. However, perhaps someone should look at why the fund is dwindling... could it be the raiding of the fund for dna projects, millions to train officers on victim's rights issues but t the money went to pay for overtime for officers to attend legislatively mandated training.- Telling everyone that the fund has decreased because of paying attorneys fees for victims to obtain protection orders is simply not the whole picture. Further, the AG neglects to tell the citizens that the fund receives money back from the feds for every qualifying dollar spent. Historically, this has been .60 on the dollar. So, how does that play out, really... AG says we spent 1.32 million in attorney fees. Did they? If they spent a million then the state presumably got back over 600,000? Moreover, there has been no increase in the amount of money collected from fines etc. for years. This is not simply a problem with attorneys helping victims and getting paid; this is a much bigger scaled problem and one that needs quite a bit more investigating. Let's get the whole picture first.

taxpayer wrote:

pure greed. No way any attorney would work for 30-60 an hour? First, I think he is wrong-second,where can I go load boxes for UPS?

Pure greed, you can't be serious? Little jealous of lawyers, are you. Remember that they are higly trained, educated professionals, not ditch diggers. You want to know what there are not enough Primary Care physicians? Because it pays crap compared to other fields of medicine, like plastics, radiology, etc. No private sector lawyer, apart from some inexperienced newbie just out of law school, will work for $60 and hour. It's just the way it is.

Everyone complains that the state should cut back, but then everyone complains when they actually do.

Why does it matter if one attorney gets $100,000 from the fund or if 10 attorneys each get $10,000 from the fund? Doesn't it make more sense that the single attorney may actually be a subject matter expert and willing to do family law? In the smaller towns, there are not multiple options for the victims.

Just an opinion wrote:

Why does it matter if one attorney gets $100,000 from the fund or if 10 attorneys each get $10,000 from the fund? Doesn't it make more sense that the single attorney may actually be a subject matter expert and willing to do family law? In the smaller towns, there are not multiple options for the victims.

It doesn't unless you are simply doing anything you can to keep from help getting to the victims who need it. Very short sided on the part of the AG.

Is there really any attorney or any job worth that much money? The court system needs changed to where a person could file thier own paperwork and let these attorneys go out and try to make an honest living which they can't

I am attorney, a public defender in fact, and I find these fees totally outrageous. They're more than triple the hourly rate that appointed criminal counsel get. The claim that lawyer professionals will not work for a reduced amount is false, and an insult to Legal Aid lawyers, public defenders, and prosecutors, all of whom make less per hour than the lawyers accepting these cases.

I was previously in private practice and did a few protection order cases during that period - paid for by my clients, not the government - and this work is frankly not that difficult. The Supreme Court proscribes specific pleading forms to be used in most of these cases, and the actual hearings are short and not particularly complex. I applaud Atty. Gen. Cordray for taking steps to reign this rent-seeking behavior in.

My UPS quote was taken very, very much out of context. I explained to the reporter that I only manage to get paid now for about 65% of my time helping victims. After paying my expenses - like my own office and travel expenses, insurance, retirement, continuing education, bar dues, malpractice insurance and all the rest - I can't afford to work for 65% of $30, or even 65% of $60. It's not a matter of greed. It's a matter of simple math.

Jam wrote:

I am attorney, a public defender in fact, and I find these fees totally outrageous. They're more than triple the hourly rate that appointed criminal counsel get. The claim that lawyer professionals will not work for a reduced amount is false, and an insult to Legal Aid lawyers, public defenders, and prosecutors, all of whom make less per hour than the lawyers accepting these cases.
I was previously in private practice and did a few protection order cases during that period - paid for by my clients, not the government - and this work is frankly not that difficult. The Supreme Court proscribes specific pleading forms to be used in most of these cases, and the actual hearings are short and not particularly complex. I applaud Atty. Gen. Cordray for taking steps to reign this rent-seeking behavior in.

I have cringed watching a judge deny an ex parte hearing because the victim failed to check the box requesting it. I have watched hapless victims in court rambling on forever without explaining why they need a protection order. Generally, the other side controls the money, so the abuser is more likely to be able to afford an attorney. Some judges are fairly lenient. But other judges dislike these orders and will hold the victim's feet to the fire.

Just did some quick math. Right now, after expenses, I make about $36 per working hour. I figured that based on 50 weeks a year and only working 60 hours per week. At the new rates of $30 and $60 an hour, I would be making about $3.50 an hour for my travel time, while consuming about $6.00 in fuel alone. In court, I would be earning about $7.00 an hour.

Jam wrote:

I am attorney, a public defender in fact, and I find these fees totally outrageous. They're more than triple the hourly rate that appointed criminal counsel get. The claim that lawyer professionals will not work for a reduced amount is false, and an insult to Legal Aid lawyers, public defenders, and prosecutors, all of whom make less per hour than the lawyers accepting these cases.
I was previously in private practice and did a few protection order cases during that period - paid for by my clients, not the government - and this work is frankly not that difficult. The Supreme Court proscribes specific pleading forms to be used in most of these cases, and the actual hearings are short and not particularly complex. I applaud Atty. Gen. Cordray for taking steps to reign this rent-seeking behavior in.

As a highly experienced lawyer myself, I isagree with you to this exent. Unlike a public defender or a Legal Aid attorney, who are employees of the goverment or a nonprofit agency, a solo practictioner has overhead -- rent, equipment, often a paralegal or other employee. Sixty bucks an hour might sound like adequate compensation to most people, but you can't run your own law office and make a reasonable income billing at sixty bucks an hour. And Legal Aid programs in Ohio have neither the staff nor the resources to cover this work.

What do you call 100 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean

Jam wrote:

I am attorney, a public defender in fact, and I find these fees totally outrageous. They're more than triple the hourly rate that appointed criminal counsel get. The claim that lawyer professionals will not work for a reduced amount is false, and an insult to Legal Aid lawyers, public defenders, and prosecutors, all of whom make less per hour than the lawyers accepting these cases.
I was previously in private practice and did a few protection order cases during that period - paid for by my clients, not the government - and this work is frankly not that difficult. The Supreme Court proscribes specific pleading forms to be used in most of these cases, and the actual hearings are short and not particularly complex. I applaud Atty. Gen. Cordray for taking steps to reign this rent-seeking behavior in.

Agreed, some of those proscribed forms are so simple to complete a monkey can do it.

I'm a law student, and it astounds me that some people who have purported themselves to be practicing attorneys actually think they are worth that much. In reality , its the paralegal that does the majority of the grunt work involved. On craigslist, I see Paralegal positions advertised for 9-12.00 per hour but the same attorneys charge the state 100's an hour. Tell me where the justice is there?

Ex Con wrote:

What do you call 100 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean

Depends. Are you a jackass?

ohio lawyer wrote:

<quoted text>
Depends. Are you a jackass?

No, I've never taken the bar