Legal aid office gains support

Legal aid office gains support

By KEVIN LANDRIGAN, Telegraph Staff

Published: Friday, March 25, 2005

CONCORD - The long legislative campaign to open a law office to serve the poor in Nashua took a giant step forward Thursday.

Nashua Democratic Sens. Joe Foster and David Gottesman convinced the state Senate to approve opening a local office of New Hampshire Legal Assistance and paying for it with a $20 increase in nearly all court filing fees.

The 14-10 vote came despite a committee's recommendation to kill the measure (SB 146).

Foster said these lawyers don't really cost the state or local taxpayers money. "It's important to understand the taxpayer benefit that comes from legal assistance," Foster explained.

Last year, a new satellite office in the North Country city of Berlin cost $240,000 to run, but clients there qualified for $1.2 million in Social Security disability benefits.

Wakefield Republican Sen. Joseph Kenney argued it's not fair for his Lakes Region constituents to have to pay for lawyers who would serve southern New Hampshire.

"When I go back and say to my constituents, You are going to have to pay an additional $20 to support what is happening in Nashua and other parts of the state, they ought to be upset," he said.

"We are too underserved and that's why I can't support this bill."

John Tobin, a legal assistance spokesman, said the filing fee increase should generate $680,000 a year, which would allow his agency to add lawyers to the overcrowded offices in Claremont, Concord and Littleton.

"Senator Kenney is right. His area is underserved, as is most of the state. Nashua seems the next logical place to expand, but after this bill, maybe we should go to Laconia, which would serve his area," Tobin said.

Presently, the agency's Manchester office serves a territory from the Massachusetts border to Laconia.

With this bill, Tobin said the Nashua office would have two lawyers, one paralegal staff member and a secretary. It would also permit opening an office on a part-time basis in Salem.

Currently, the filing fees are $145 for a Supreme Court appeal, $95 to file a District Court case and $50 to $150 in Superior Court depending on the motion, Foster said.

The increase would place New Hampshire "in the middle" on its filing fees among New England states, according to Tobin.

Manchester Republican Sen. Ted Gatsas objected to one part of the bill that would begin a pilot project to explore serving more residents by charging them a fee based on their income.

"I've got a problem with new programs when we are starting to assess a new fee and tried to relieve the pressure," he said.

Foster resisted requests by Gatsas to remove the pilot project from the bill.

"I think I'd like to see the legislation go forward as it is," he said.

After the vote, Tobin said the project will not cost the agency any additional money. Federal guidelines provide legal help for free to families that earn up to 125 percent of the poverty level, or $24,200 for a family of four.

The amended bill would allow the agency to charge a fee and serve families that earn up to $48,400, or about 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

The Senate referred the bill to its Finance Committee, but the initial vote is a pivotal one, Tobin said.

"This is just one step but an important one," he said.

Several previous attempts to establish this program have won favor before the House of Representatives, but died in the Senate due to opposition from the real estate industry.

Tobin said supporters decided to exempt landlord and tenant disputes from having to pay this filing fee increase, along with those who go into small-claims courts.

"We have had a lot of landlords turn up in the past to oppose this, but none of them did this time in the Senate," Tobin said.

"There's still a long way for this to go, but I'm cautiously optimistic."

Kevin Landrigan can be reached at 224-8804 or landrigank@telegraph-nh.com.

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