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News and Information

OCT
15
2012

Many Courts Will Shut Down After Los Angeles County Court Budget Cuts

Multiple news agencies have reported that users of the Los Angeles County court system could be about to experience major delays as a result of a budget cut, which would affect dozens of courtrooms. About 100 non-courtroom employees are expected to be laid off as a result, reports show.

By June 30th, news agencies have reported, 56 courtrooms will cease their operations. The President Judge of the Los Angeles County court system reported that $30 million has been cut. The Los Angeles County court system is the nation’s largest. After the courtrooms are closed and several employees are laid off, civil litigants will be required to bring their own stenographers if they choose to have the court record preserved.

Local lawyers and Los Angeles residents are being asked to expect major delays in future civil cases due to the fact that, after the courtrooms are closed down, judges will have to share both staff and courtrooms to have civil cases tried.

Reports have also demonstrated that informal juvenile traffic courts will be affected by the cuts. These courts allow youngsters to have their cases fully resolved outside of a delinquency court scenario, which will now be eliminated as a result of the budget cut.

Many professionals involved with the Los Angeles County court system have been expressing just how disappointed and sad they are about this major budget cut, especially because many court employees will be fired. This budge cut is directly related to a statewide cut that has been recently mandated under the California budget. According to the news, $70 million in reductions was made previously in the Los Angeles County alone, which has resulted in 329 layoffs.

Statistics show that nearly five million legal filings are reported every years in Los Angeles. During the year of 2011, the county’s courtrooms dealt with 4,792 trial cases. Residents are being warned by the California government that a future budget cut could be added to the current cut if a temporary income tax and sales tax increase is not approved during the November election.

Some believe that this budget cut that affects the court system is not appropriate since it results in, what some call, the ‘rationing of justice’.

According to most news agencies covering this radical budget cut, people who use the courts on a regular basis have already been complaining about the delays they have been experiencing since the last cut resulted in several layoffs two years ago.

For more on this story, read the full article here.

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The Vachon Law Firm is based in Southern California and focuses exclusively on consumer protection litigation.