TN Supreme Court push for more pay for lawyers as judges struggle to find lawyers in courtrooms

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Tennessee Supreme Court says more lawyers are needed across the state than they’ve seen in the past 20 years.

Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Kirby says judges are struggling across the state to administer justice in their courtrooms because they have a hard time finding lawyers to represent people who have a right to legal counsel.

“Court proceedings can’t happen without court-appointed attorneys, but attorneys can’t afford to take cases at the current rates. The criminal justice and juvenile court systems are running out of options,” said Kirby.

One judge in Henry County says her list of available attorneys for either general sessions or juvenile cases is the shortest it has been in her 17 years on the bench. It’s causing the court to struggle with holding preliminary hearings in the time frame required by law.

“I have been on the bench for 10 years and it has never been so dire,” Hamilton County Juvenile Judge Rob Philyaw said. “In the past year, we have lost at least 13 attorneys who no longer take court appointments. We have over 2,000 cases a year that must have a court-appointed attorney.”

The state supreme court says one of the main reasons for the shortage is attorneys not being able to afford to take cases at the current rates. Tennessee’s reimbursement rate for court-appointed attorneys is the lowest in the country. Attorneys are paid $50 an hour, a rate that has not changed since 1997. There are total caps in place for almost all cases, and lawyers are reimbursed at the end of the case.

This can take months, if not years. So, a pay increase is being pushed to hopefully stop the bleeding.

The Administrative Office of the Courts will make a significant budget request to support increasing the attorney hourly rate to $80 in its proposed budget for FY 2024-25.

“Paying lawyers such low rates do not make the cases go away. It just means cases are delayed, overturned, or returned to the trial court on appeal. That doesn’t help anyone,” Chief Justice Kirby said. “Victims are left waiting without justice and are retraumatized by additional proceedings. Children linger in foster care. Witnesses move and misremember, evidence deteriorates. It’s not efficient or cost-effective. Our citizens expect and deserve a fair, efficient, unbiased justice system. Right now, these issues hinder us from being able to give it to them. We look forward to working with judges, the General Assembly, the Governor’s Office, and all others concerned with the administration of justice to resolve the problem.”

A 2017 Indigent Representation Task Force that included judges, attorneys, legislators and others found the rate inadequate and recommended raising it to between $75 to $125 an hour. Since then, the Supreme Court has made multiple budget requests for funds to increase the rate or otherwise support the program, but it has only received enough to eliminate the difference between in-court and out-of-court work and increase caps.

In January 2023, the Administrative Office of the Courts worked with the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury to determine whether the state is meeting its constitutional and statutory obligation to provide citizens effective assistance of counsel. Specifically, the Comptroller reviewed the impact on the court system of the low hourly rate of compensation for appointed counsel in non-capital cases.

The Comptroller’s investigation is still pending.

The Administrative Office of the Courts says hopefully their request will help to stabilize the criminal justice and juvenile court systems.