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Appointment and compensation of court-appointed counsel in the Mental Health Department (Lanterman-Petris-Short Act matters, from the Court-Appointed Counsel Panel under Local Rule 4.124): a $250 hourly cap for clients able to pay; the PACE rate (currently $165) for those who are not; the Clerk may approve PACE claims for up to 15 hours of reappointment services a year in LPS conservatorship cases; notice at $200,000 in a fiscal year; requests for additional compensation (LASC PRO 025); and fee status at every hearing. Supersedes 2024-SJ-001-00.
California > Second Appellate District > Los Angeles County > Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles > Mental Health
2024-SJ-001-01 [File stamp: FILED, Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, AUG 13 2024, David W. Slayton, Executive Officer/Clerk of Court, By: A. Esparza, Deputy] SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES IN RE COURT-APPOINTED COUNSEL IN THE MENTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT OF THE LOS ANGELES SUPERIOR COURT AMENDED STANDING ORDER RE MENTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT’S COURT-APPOINTED COUNSEL The Los Angeles County Superior Court has established a courtwide policy of adopting cost-effective plans for the appointment of attorneys, to ensure public resources are used for maximum benefit in the administration of justice and allocated in a manner that promotes access to justice and provides a forum for the fair and expeditious resolution of disputes. The authority for establishing this policy in the Mental Health Department has been delegated by the Presiding Judge to the Supervising Judge of the Probate and Mental Health Divisions. Attorneys are appointed in all the case types assigned to the Mental Health Department pursuant to Rule 2.13(b) of the Los Angeles Superior Court Local Rules. The appointment and compensation of attorneys in matters that arise from criminal cases or cases under the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Act are governed by authority found elsewhere and, as a result, are not addressed in this order. In matters brought under the Lanterman-Petris-Short (“LPS”) Act where a conflict is declared by the Public Defender, the court must appoint private counsel. See Welfare and Institutions Code (“WIC”) § 5276 (Petitions for Writ of Habeas Corpus from Detention for Involuntary Treatment for Mentally Disordered Persons), WIC § 5346(c) (Petitions for Assisted Outpatient Treatment) and WIC § 5365 (Petitions for Conservatorship for Gravely Disabled Persons.) The appointment of counsel in these cases shall be from the Court-Appointed Counsel Panel established pursuant to Rule 4.124 of the Los Angeles Superior Court Local Rules. The panel will be used for appointments in both Probate and Mental Health LPS matters. Additionally, attorneys appointed to assist private conservators pursuant to WIC § 5370.1 shall also be appointed from the Court-Appointed Counsel Panel. The compensation of Court-Appointed Counsel Panel attorneys in the Mental Health Department shall be governed by this order as follows: 1. On cases in which the Court has determined that the party does have the ability to pay for counsel, the hourly rate that the attorney may charge the client shall not exceed $250. 2. On cases in which the court has determined that the party does not have the ability to pay for counsel, the attorney will be compensated through the Los Angeles County Professional Appointee Court Expense (PACE) program. The hourly rate for a court-appointed attorney through the Court’s approval shall not exceed the rate established in General Order 2024-GEN-007-00 (currently $165) or as superseded by a future General Order. The $165 per hour rate is applicable for work performed on or after July 1, 2024. 3. In LPS Conservatorship cases in which an attorney is appointed to represent the conservator, the Clerk of the Court is given authority to review, approve and process PACE claims for reappointment services up to 15 hours each calendar year until conservatorship is terminated. 4. If payment is requested by any counsel who has received combined compensation of $200,000 or more in any fiscal year (July 1 to June 30), PACE will notify the Supervising Judge or designee of the Probate and Mental Health Divisions. 5. Requests for additional compensation by court-appointed counsel shall be submitted in writing and must include the total amount previously approved for the attorney on the case, as well as establish good cause for the additional compensation. The Court may award additional compensation upon competent evidence of good cause. Requests for additional fees and costs shall be made on the Request by Court-Appointed Counsel for Authority to Perform Additional Hours of Service form (LASC PRO 025). 6. It is the responsibility of court-appointed counsel to fully apprise the Court at every hearing of the status of all fees incurred. Failure to do so may impact the amount of the fee awarded. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this Standing Order supersedes order number 2024-SJ-001-00, is effective immediately, and is to remain in effect until otherwise ordered by the Probate and Mental Health Supervising Judge and/or Presiding Judge. DATED: 8/13/24 BRENDA PENNY Supervising Judge, Probate and Mental Health Divisions AMENDED STANDING ORDER RE MENTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT’S COURT-APPOINTED COUNSEL [The date is handwritten.]
2024-SJ-001-01 [File stamp: FILED, Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, AUG 13 2024, David W. Slayton, Executive Officer/Clerk of Court, By: A. Esparza, Deputy] SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES IN RE COURT-APPOINTED COUNSEL IN THE MENTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT OF THE LOS ANGELES SUPERIOR COURT AMENDED STANDING ORDER RE MENTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT’S CO
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-09-29 (California T3 Los Angeles build 2026-09-29) from BenchPath custody ca/t3/ca-los-angeles/general-orders/LIBOPSMentalHealth-20-StandingOrderReMentalHealthDivision'sCourt-AppointedCounsel.pdf (97545 bytes, sha256 2f238aaeb04fa5febfc96a56da2e8ff0fc94bb18ab8970e5f324ce88333e2007; 3 pages) - the court's own posted PDF, a page scan: transcribed by eye from the rendered page images (200 dpi), every page read against the image; a local machine reading (RapidOCR) served only as a second reader, every six-word window of the transcription looked up in it and every miss checked on the page; the clerk's file stamp in one bracketed line, handwritten or stamped fills in place with a bracketed note, a running footer transcribed once, pleading line numbers and fill marks omitted; a signature itself is not transcribed.
Standing order of the 109th Judicial District Court for every pending or later-filed case in Andrews, Winkler and Crane Counties: any attorney or self-represented litigant who uses any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in a case must, before using AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the court's certification form stating that all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate by a human through traditional (non-AI) legal sources, and acknowledging responsibility and potential sanctions for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply. Effective immediately; in effect until rescinded or replaced.
Standing order of the 109th Judicial District Court for every pending or later-filed case in Andrews, Winkler and Crane Counties: any attorney or self-represented litigant who uses any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in a case must, before using AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the court's certification form stating that all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate by a human through traditional (non-AI) legal sources, and acknowledging responsibility and potential sanctions for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply. Effective immediately; in effect until rescinded or replaced.