On Feb. 6, state Controller John Chiang began withholding an estimated $5 million in monthly claims submitted from court-appointed appellate counsel for compensation. The Controllers Office will delay payment by at least 30 days on lawyers’ pay claims sent to the Controller by the Administrative Office of the Courts after Jan. 29, according a spokesman for the AOC. It is not known exactly how many lawyers will be getting IOUs but there are 800 attorneys handling criminal appeals through various state projects around California and payment claims come in at a rate of four to six per day, the AOC reports.
As of mid-February the payment delays had no effect on lawyers who provide contract services for trial courts in dependency, delinquency or other cases, but that could change if there is no state budget approved by March 1, according to the AOC.
