Plaintiff, an Alabama attorney, filed suit on June 21, 2005, in Montgomery County Circuit Court against the State Comptroller after Plaintiff was denied payment for overhead hours he spent on indigent representation. Plaintiff was denied payment after the State Comptroller began withholding overhead payments for all indigent representation by lawyers appointed under Alabama Code § 15-12-21, providing for appointment and compensation of court-appointed trial counsel. These overhead payments were set at $30/hour.

The Comptroller's action withholding hourly overhead payments was based on a February 2005 Opinion of the Attorney General. In that opinion, the Attorney General found that pursuant to a 1999 amendment, Alabama Code § 15-12-21 did not permit hourly overhead payments despite the fact that such payments were the practice and understanding of lawyers, the Comptroller, and the courts for many years.

Plaintiff alleged that the Comptroller's action and the Attorney General opinion represented a mistaken interpretation of state law. Plaintiff also alleged that the issue of overhead had already been decided adversely to the Comptroller in a 2002 judgment out of Covington County Circuit Court. Plaintiff sought declaratory and injunctive relief, which would require the Comptroller to resume overhead payments and to refund all back payments withheld, certify a class consisting of all lawyers similarly affected, and pay reasonable attorney's fees and costs. The trial court entered a final judgment on September 26, 2005, (amended on September 28, 2005) directing restoration of overhead payments on a statewide basis, but declining to address the other issues of interest and class certification, and declining to award attorney's fees.

Plaintiff filed a motion to alter or amend the judgment on October 11, 2005. The trial court denied Plaintiff's motion on October 14, 2005, and Plaintiff filed a notice of appeal on October 28, 2005. Plaintiff also requested a partial stay of the order directing refunds in order to secure a source of payment of attorney's fees if so ordered, which was denied. Shortly thereafter, the Comptroller filed a cross-appeal challenging the trial court's decision.

On December 22, 2006, Justice Michael F. Bolin of the Alabama Supreme Court issued an opinion holding that Alabama Code § 15-12-21 provided for payment of office-overhead expenses reasonably incurred in the defense of an indigent defendant. However, the court did not reach the issues presented by Plaintiff on appeal (including class certification and attorneys fees) because those issues remain pending before the trial court. The clearinghouse was unable to find additional information on this case, and the case is presumably closed.

Elena Malik - 02/19/2020


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