Family Law Reduced-Fee Panel

MVLS administers a family law reduced-fee program called Judicare in Baltimore City, and Anne Arundel, Calvert, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Frederick, Garrett, Howard, St. Mary’s, Somerset, Washington, Wicomico and Worcester counties in response to the large number of unrepresented litigants in the family courts.

To attract more pro bono attorneys, Judicare has funding to pay attorneys up to $1,600 per client representation.  Attorneys are paid at the rate of $80 per hour for the first 20 hours of representation in a contested domestic matter.  The attorney must then provide the next five hours pro bono.  For matters that require additional time for resolution, attorneys are eligible for an additional ten hours of paid representation at $80 per hour.

Judicare attorneys are asked to accept one pro bono domestic case for every Judicare case referred.  The pro bono domestic matters are generally uncontested or less complicated than Judicare cases.  Attorneys must have at least three years of family law experience to participate in this project.