Overview
- The Supreme Judicial Court unanimously ruled that judges cannot order higher bar-advocate rates than those set by the Legislature.
- Chief Justice Kimberly S. Budd wrote that no extraordinary circumstances justify judicial intervention, emphasizing separation of powers.
- The court cited the existing Lavallee protocol as part of current safeguards and found no evidence the system is constitutionally inadequate, remanding the case to a single justice.
- Recent legislative steps include phasing bar-advocate pay toward $85 an hour and allocating $40 million for CPCS to hire about 320 staff attorneys, after attorneys sought $125 an hour.
- Bar advocates have mostly returned under temporary incentives, while CPCS and the Boston Bar Association call for permanent compensation fixes and long-term structural reforms.