A flood of clients challenging attorney billing rates is prompting the Connecticut Bar Association's new president, Ndidi Moses, to plan a major undertaking: focus groups to go across the state and look into issues, including the cost of legal services, pro se representation and the low bar examination pass rate.

"Corporations and individuals are finding ways around hiring lawyers," Moses said. "They are either going pro se, or are using alternative legal services as there are organizations and companies that provide legal services but are not law firms."

New Haven attorney Huge Keefe is familiar with such feedback.

"I've heard that since I started practicing 50 years ago," the partner with Lynch, Traub. Keefe & Errante said. "It seems now, though, to have really gained steam. It will happen, if that is what corporations want. They sign the checks."

It's been 14 years since the bar conducted a comprehensive study of legal costs and other metrics affecting the changing attitudes, and Moses said all signs point to a need for a self-evaluation.

"The last report, back in 2004-2005, was done because of changing market trends," she said. "Since the last report, there is a rising pro se docket that the court's can't handle, the cost of legal services has increased tremendously, and the public's perception of the importance of the assistance of lawyers has declined."

Focus groups will include law school academics, judges, attorneys and community stakeholders, who will begin meeting throughout the state in the fall to consider potential changes.

Billable hours and the high cost of legal services are key concerns.

"We are hearing a lot of corporations saying that if outside counsel can't rein in the costs, then they will do it in-house or hire alternative legal services, who can do it for less," said Moses, a prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Bridgeport. "The public is getting frustrated and corporations are getting frustrated. Everyone is looking for a solution, and we need to work with them to find it."

As part of the focus group initiative related to pro se individuals, Moses said bar association members will also be doing library tours throughout the state talking about the importance of hiring an attorney.

"Many people think they do not need a lawyer, when they really do," she said. "Online resources tend to give people a false sense of security in that they can be their own lawyer."

The focus groups will also address the declining pass rates among candidates taking the bar exam in Connecticut, and offer recommendations on how to improve those numbers.

"We want to look at why the pass rates are dropping," Moses said. "What are we missing and what's going on here?"

Results from the February 2019 Connecticut bar examinations show that the pass rate fell to less than 50%, The numbers for July in Connecticut have also dropped in the past few years.

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