RELYING ON a recent federal decision that ordered an increase in New York’s assigned counsel fees for certain Family Court cases, an upstate judge yesterday approved a rate of $75 an hour for an attorney who represented a mother accused of neglect.
Clinton County Family Court Judge Timothy J. Lawliss said he was required to order the higher fee, which applied to work both in court and out of court, to ensure that the mother received effective assistance of counsel. Failing to do so, he wrote, would violate the mother’s due process rights under the U.S. Constitution.
