The Minnesota Supreme Court has increased the annual lawyer registration fee by $100.
In an order issued yesterday, a sharply divided high court determined that a large portion of the increase, $75, will go to support the state’s public defense system, with the remainder going towards the funding of legal services for low-income Minnesotans. The increase is temporary, beginning with fees due Oct. 1, 2009, and expiring with fees due July 1, 2011.
Chief Judge Eric Magnuson, writing for the majority, said that the court was making the temporary fee increase “reluctantly” in response to the exceptional financial circumstances currently facing the courts and the state. The chief justice wrote that the fee increase falls within the court’s “inherent power to regulate the practice of law.”
Justice Paul Anderson concurred with the decision, but wrote separately to express his reluctance to fund the public defense system in this manner and express his disappointment that Gov. Pawlenty and the Legislature have failed to adequately fund a constitutional mandate by “appropriate means.”
Justice Alan Page dissented, contending that the court does not have the power to impose what is essentially a “tax” on lawyers to fund the public defense system. He also wrote that the decision to do so is “bad judicial policy.”
Justices Helen Meyer and Lorie Gildea also dissented.
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This is exactly what those of us who cannot find jobs need: more fees on top of our useless law degrees. Thanks.
[...] 10, 2009 by Mark Cohen We got an interesting response from a recent grad on our post about the Minnesota Supreme Court raising attorney registration fees by $100 to help fund Legal [...]
I will not be able to pay my fee this year due to the increase. There is no exception for those who cannot afford it. This is sad.
Good bye to my hopes of using my law degree.
[...] • Being a lawyer in Minnesota is taxing. Literally. The state Supreme Court controversially raised the annual lawyer registration fee by $100 to mainly support the state’s public defense system. But one Justice dissented that the court doesn’t have the power to “tax” attorneys and called it “bad judicial policy.” But you’ll still have to pay to play. [Minnesota Lawyer Blog] [...]