PACER, attorney admission fees to rise

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Starting Nov. 1, it will cost attorneys more to be admitted to practice in the federal appellate and district courts in Wisconsin.

In a response to inflationary pressures, the Judicial Conference of the United States this week increased a variety of federal court fees to help generate revenue in the face of a grim budgetary outlook.

Among the fee hikes endorsed by the 26-member Conference was a $26 increase in the attorney admission fee for the federal appellate courts and federal district courts, from $150 to $176.

Other changes include an increase in the notice of appeal fee in federal bankruptcy court, from $250 to $293, and a jump in the Cuban Liberation Civil Filing fee, from $5,431 to $6,355.

VIEW THE NEW FEE STRUCTURE

According to a news release from the U.S. Courts, the newly approved fee schedule is expected to generate an additional $10.5 million in revenue for fiscal year 2012 and reduce the courts’ annual appropriation request to Congress.

The Judicial Conference also endorsed a 2-cent increase, from 8 to 10 cents per page, for electronic public access fees. The rise is in response to increasing costs for maintaining and enhancing the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system.

The fee has not been increased since 2005 and is entirely paid for through user fees set by the Judicial Conference. Implementation of the 2 cent per page increase will take a minimum of six months.

The Judicial Conference is the policy-making body for the federal court system and the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court serves as its presiding officer. Membership consists of the chief judges of the 13 courts of appeals, a district judge from each of the 12 geographic circuits and the chief judge of the Court of International Trade.