A Judge’s Guide

and how and by whom the fees and expenses are to be paid, in what shares. If
the parties are to pay for the lawyer’s services, then at the time of
appointment the court should order the parties to deposit specific amounts of
money for fees and costs.
2. Sources of Payment
Courts should look to the following sources, in the following order, to pay for
the lawyer’s services: (a) The incomes and assets of the parties; (b) Targeted
filing fees assessed against litigants in similar cases, and reserved in a fund
for child representation; (c) Government funding; (d) Voluntary pro bono
service. States and localities should provide sufficient funding to reimburse
private attorneys, to contract with lawyers or firms specializing in children’s
law, and to support pro bono and legal aid programs. Courts should
eliminate involuntary “pro bono” appointments, and should not expect all or
most representation to be pro bono.
3. Timeliness of Claims and Payment
Lawyers should regularly bill for their time and receive adequate and timely
compensation. Periodically and after certain events, such as hearings or
orders, they should be allowed to request payment. States should set a
maximum number of days for any required court review of these bills, and
for any governmental payment process to be completed.
4. Costs
Commentary
Attorneys should have reasonable and necessary access to, or reimbursement
for, experts, investigative services, paralegals, research, and other services,
such as copying medical records, long distance phone calls, service of process,
and transcripts of hearings.
5. Enforcement
Courts should vigorously enforce orders for payment by all available means.
These Standards call for paying lawyers in accordance with prevailing legal standards of
reasonableness for lawyers’ fees in general. Currently, state-set uniform rates tend to be
lower than what competent, experienced lawyers should be paid, creating an impression that
this is second-class work. In some places it has become customary for the work of child
representation to be minimal and pro forma, or for it to be performed by lawyers whose
services are not in much demand.
Lawyers and parties need to understand how the lawyer will be paid. The requirement to
state the lawyer’s hourly rate in the appointment order will help make litigants aware of the
costs being incurred. It is not meant to set a uniform rate, nor to pre-empt a court’s
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