Chapter 5, § 520: Disclosure of Information on Payments to Attorneys

§ 520.10 Timing
§ 520.20 Documents
§ 520.30 Notice
§ 520.40 Attorney Payments Approved Before or During Trial
§ 520.50 Attorney Payments Approved After Trial Where Appellate Review is Not Being Pursued or Has Concluded
§ 520.60 Attorney Payments Approved After Trial Where Appellate Review is Being Pursued
§ 520.70 Attorney Payments Approved After the Appeal is Completed

§ 520 Disclosure of Information on Payments to Attorneys

§ 520.10 Timing

(a) The statutory basis for disclosing payments to counsel in noncapital appointments expired on Jan. 25, 2000. See: § 540. While disclosure provisions continue by Judicial Conference policy, courts should consider factors listed in § 510.30 and § 520.50, depending on the stage of the case, to ensure that such disclosures will not impact the right to counsel in CJA panel appointments. Disclosure may be postponed until after all proceedings have concluded. See: § 510.40.

(b) For capital cases, disclosure must be after the disposition of the petition for habeas corpus.

§ 520.20 Documents

(a) To satisfy the requirements of the CJA, courts may release summary payment amounts from the eVoucher system, redacted or unredacted, depending on the stage of the particular case and the policy considerations involved.

(b) Documentation submitted in support of, or attached to, payment may not be disclosed at any time.

§ 520.30 Notice

(a) Before approving payments, courts are required to provide reasonable notice of disclosure to counsel to allow the counsel to request the redaction of specific information based on the considerations set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(d)(4)(D) and Guide, Vol 7A, § 520.50.

(b) To comply with this notice requirement, it is recommended that, contemporaneously with the issuance to counsel of the forms CJA 20 or CJA 30, courts give appointed counsel a copy of Form CJA 19 (Notice to Court Appointed Counsel of Public Disclosure of Attorney Fee Information).

(c) Upon receipt of a request for disclosure of CJA payment information, courts may contact counsel about the propriety of safeguarding the information under § 510.40.

§ 520.40 Attorney Payments Approved Before or During Trial

(a) After redacting any detailed information provided to justify the expenses, the court will make available to the public a copy of the voucher showing only the amounts approved for payment.

(b) On the completion of trial, an unredacted copy summary payment amounts from the eVoucher system may be released, depending on whether an appeal is being pursued and whether the court determines that one or more of the interests listed in Guide, Vol 7A, § 520.50 require the redaction of information.

§ 520.50 Attorney Payments Approved After Trial Where Appellate Review is Not Being Pursued or Has Concluded

The court will make an unredacted copy of the payment voucher available to the public unless it determines that one or more of the interests set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(d)(4)(D) and listed below justify limiting disclosure to the amounts approved for payment.

(a) the protection of any person's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination;

(b) the protection of the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel;

(c) the defendant's attorney-client privilege;

(d) the work product privilege of the defendant's counsel;

(e) the safety of any person; or

(f) any other interest that justice may require (with the exception that for death penalty cases where the underlying alleged criminal conduct took place on or after April 19, 1995, the amount of the fees shall not be considered a reason to limit disclosure).

§ 520.60 Attorney Payments Approved After Trial Where Appellate Review is Being Pursued

The court will make available to the public only the amounts approved for payment unless it finds that none of the interests listed above in § 520.50 will be compromised.

§ 520.70 Attorney Payments Approved After the Appeal is Completed

The court will make an unredacted copy of the payment voucher available to the public unless it determines that one or more of the interests listed above in § 520.50 justify limiting disclosure to only the amounts approved for payment.

Last revised (Transmittal 07-014) January 5, 2022