The Massachusetts Bar Association is pleased to report that the
FY 16 State Budget passed yesterday by the House and Senate
includes MBA-backed language to provide a pay raise for private Bar
Advocates. District and Juvenile Court rates will go from $50 to
$53 per hour; Children and Family Law Cases (CAFL) and Care and
Protection Cases (C&P) will go from $50 to $55 per hour. The
budget also allows the billable hour cap on private attorneys to
move up from 1650 to 1800 hours for CAFL and C&P work.
While the MBA will continue to take steps to increase the rates
further and to include other categories of Bar Advocate work, this
is a great development given the budget deficit that necessitated
over a $1.5 billion dollar cut.
The budget also contains an overall $631.5 million appropriation
for the Trial Court, which is slightly less than the Senate number
of $633 million, but well above the $628 million needed to avoid
court employee layoffs.
The budget now goes to the governor's desk. Click here to view the MBA's letter to the
governor.