Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/147897
Sarasota News Leader August 2, 2013 strain on organizations all over the state." Patterson said Legal Aid helps the "working poor," not just "welfare mothers," and Harradine outlined how the ceiling for help from her group is a $30,000 income for a family of four. Some of Legal Aid's clients can't even read, she pointed out; they need help just understanding the documents they are required to file. Panelist and Circuit Court Judge Lee Haworth praised area lawyers for their volunteer work, especially in housing litigation. "We had this tsunami of foreclosures hit us," he said. "We saw a number of people who needed representation because of the way the banks were processing these cases." Page 32 And those expenses are just to file the paperwork. Add on top of that lawyers' fees — Patterson said his firm's average hourly rate runs between $200 and $450 — and payments to expert witnesses and court reporters, and the bill can quickly mushroom. Patterson noted that a typical lawyer's bill for a civil trial would be $20,000 to $25,000. Patterson criticized Gov. Rick Scott, as well as Congress, for refusing to better fund legal aid programs. "Money's not the solution for everything, but one of the key solutions for all of this is better funding," he said, arguing that the $400 million Congress sets aside is little more than "a drop in the bucket." Haworth also brought up the issue of skyrocketing filing fees: $400 for any civil action, $1,900 for a foreclosure, etc. He added that he's heard cases of people who want to divorce but can't afford it, and landlords who pay unwanted tenants to leave rather than pony up for an eviction proceeding. "We don't want to fund the court system," Eger put it bluntly. "We put it on the backs of those who can't afford it." Toward the end of the program, he acknowledged the panel hadn't produced any "profound" solutions, but he made it clear the current system isn't working: "The ones who can afford it least are paying for it." % John Patterson. Photo courtesy of Livingston, Patterson, Strickland & Siegel P.A. Judge Lee Haworth. Photo courtesy of the 12th Judicial Circuit