Attorney Admission Fee Increase Comments Accepted until Nov. 21

The more things change, the more it costs to practice law in the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

The U.S. Judicial Conference approved amendments to the Court of Appeals Miscellaneous Fee Schedule in September. Those amendments included a nationwide increase in the attorney admission fee from $150 to $176. The new fee is in addition to the $50.00 local admission fee set by Local Rule 46.0(a)(1), bringing your attorney admission fee grand total to $226.

If you’re unhappy about this change, there is an outlet for your discontent. The First Circuit Court of Appeals is accepting comments about the proposed fee increase until November 21, 2011.

Not that your comments will do much good; the attorney admission fee increase technically went into effect on November 1 after the court decided there was an "immediate need" to implement the increase. The comment period is really just a formality at this point.

Comments, should you feel inclined to chime in, should be submitted by November 21, 2011, and addressed to:

Office of the Clerk
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
United States Courthouse
1 Courthouse Way, Suite 2500
Boston, Massachusetts 02210

While the attorney admission fee increase will most likely be the final fee hike for 2011, there are more increases on the horizon in 2012. The electronic public access (EPA) fee will increase from $0.08 to $0.10 per page on April 1, 2012. This is the first EPA fee increase since 2005.

Local, state, and federal government agencies will be exempted from the increase for three years. Additionally, PACER users who do not accrue charges of more than $15 in a quarterly billing cycle will not be charged a fee.

Related Resources:

• FindLaw's First Circuit blog (FindLaw)
• First Circuit Court of Appeals (US Courts)
• First Circuit Says Grand Jury Can Subpoena Documents from Lawyer (FindLaw's First Circuit blog)