Judicare Family Law Project

In January 2008 the Maryland Legal Services Corporation (MLSC) and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) began the Judicare Family Law Pilot Project to expand representation in family law matters at reduced fees. Initially, funding was awarded to legal services organizations serving Allegany, Harford, Prince George’s and Washington Counties to administer the project and screen and place cases in cooperation with local bar associations, family courts and pro bono committees. The pilot project was expanded in July 2008 to Baltimore City, Montgomery County and five counties on the Mid-Shore. AOC will conduct an evaluation of the pilot project with the anticipation of expanding services to all jurisdictions in the future. In July 2009, the project was expanded to all Maryland jurisdictions and includes all contested family law matters, including contested custody.

In early 2007 a study was commissioned by the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA) Section on Delivery of Legal Services with support from AOC to review the potential of reinstating a program from the 1970s known as “Judicare,” which uses private lawyers paid reduced fees to serve low-income persons who could not otherwise obtain civil legal services. University of Maryland School of Law Professor Michael Millemann conducted the study, which was released last May ("Final Report and Recommendations On the Potential Use of Private Lawyers") and presented at the annual meeting of the Judiciary in conjunction with the MSBA annual meeting in June.

As recommended in the study, private attorneys accepting Judicare cases in family law matters will be paid $80 per hour with a cap of $1,600 for 20 hours of work. Furthermore, the project will pay an additional $80 an hour, up to an additional $800 ($2,400 total cap), for every hour over 25 hours that the attorney spends on the case (thus 5 hours must be pro bono).

Judicare Family Law Project: The MLSC grants have been awarded to the following nonprofit organizations to place contested family law cases with private attorneys at reduced fees. Allegany Law Foundation Community Legal Services of Prince George’s County Harford County Bar Foundation Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (serving all other Maryland jurisdictions) Mid-Shore Pro Bono (serving Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's and Talbot Counties) Montgomery County Bar Foundation Women's Law Center (Baltimore County) YWCA of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Attorneys who are interested in participating in the Judicare Family Law Project should contact one of the MLSC-funded organizations listed above in your jurisdiction, using contact information on the Directory page of this web site.

Contested Child Custody Representation Project

Child custody representation through a reduced-fee model was expanded in 2005 to cover most Maryland jurisdictions. Based on a successful pilot project in Anne Arundel, Montgomery and Prince George's counties intitiated by MLSC and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) in 1999, private attorneys represent low-income persons in complex child custody cases at significantly reduced rates. The current reduced fee projects are administered by Allegany Law Foundation, Community Legal Services of Prince George’s County, Harford County Bar Foundation, Maryland Volunteer Lawyer Services, Mid-Shore Council on Family Violence, Inc., Montgomery County Bar Foundation, Southern Maryland Center for Family Advocacy, Women's Law Center and YWCA of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County. A complementary component of the Child Custody Project is operated by the Legal Aid Bureau through staff attorneys in various county offices.

An Evaluation Report of the pilot project was published in 2003 by the University of Baltimore Law School’s Center for Families, Children, and the Courts. The Center found a high level of satisfaction by attorneys, clients, judges, court personnel, and others served by or involved with the project and made various recommendations for its continued operation and expansion.

In March 2005, the Daily Record published a feature article, "A Parent (Not a Fool) for a Client," about the project. In July 2009, the project was subsumed by the Judicare Family Law Project to include all contested family law matters, including contested custody.

Maryland Legal Assistance Network (MLAN)

The Maryland Legal Assistance Network (MLAN) was a project initiated in 1999 by MLSC in partnership with Maryland’s major legal services programs with funding from Open Society Institute - Baltimore to engage in the continued development, implementation, and expansion of legal information websites, a centralized intake system, and other initiatives to increase access to justice for low and moderate income persons. In November 2007, the Maryland State Law Library, a court-related agency of the Maryland Judiciary, assumed responsibility for the management and continued updating of the Maryland Peoples Law Library website. It also maintains the www.mdjustice.org website for legal services providers.