2001 Lawyers who represent the poor in Family Court say they are overworked, underpaid and close to refusing new cases for the second time this year. Family Court lawyer Ronald Fisher, says he's a perfect example. The more and more they pile on, the harder it is to live up to that duty.
People do what they have to do to get the work done, but there's a risk of making mistakes.
And mistakes in Family Court can lead to unfortunate consequences. If they can't give a case the attention it needs, lawyers say, a child might remain in a potentially abusive home, in foster care unnecessarily or simply in the court system for too long. And of course that will back things up and have ramifications for children. Robert Leder, a former president of the Bronx Family Court Bar Association and a 10-year veteran of Family Court, says that high caseloads and low pay led to lawyers refusing to take new cases in January. The situation has not improved.