Appeals court adopts GSC’s fee fix
2:12 pm, June 9th, 2010
The Court of Appeals of Georgia has decided to follow the state Supreme Court’s lead: starting Wednesday, it will allow opposing counsel to cooperate in compiling an appellate record, instead of requiring the dissatisfied party to pay new, higher fees for a trial court clerk’s compilation.
The move was prompted by HB 1055, signed into law last month, which raised the per-page appellate record preparation fee clerks charge from $1.50 per page to $10 per page, although at least one clerk says the statute makes the higher fee a discretionary maximum. The Georgia Supreme Court last week changed its rules to provide an interim solution to the price hike, but the judges of the Court of Appeals at that time rejected a move to make similar changes.
But Court of Appeals Chief Judge M. Yvette Miller announced Wednesday that her court had adopted an amendment to its Rule 17. The amendment says: “Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in these rules, this Court will accept for consideration on the merits of any appeal any record or substitute therefor which the Supreme Court of Georgia accepts under its rules.”
Miller, in the announcement, characterized the move as a temporary measure designed to alleviate the financial burden on lawyers and the public of having a record preparation fee “which would in essence deprive certain persons of free and equal access to the appellate Courts.”
Contributor: Janet L. Conley in Legal Community, Politics | subscribe to rss | 
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