Washington, DC— Today the nation's first comprehensive study of the out-of-court programs that resolve lawyer-client fee disputes ranked Delaware's fee arbitration system 33rd in the nation and issued the state's system a D grade. To spur reform of these important but under-utilized forums, legal consumer watchdog group HALT - An Organization of Americans for Legal Reform released its 2007 Fee Arbitration Report Card, analyzing programs in all 50 states and D.C.

"The most pervasive complaint about lawyers is that their fees are too high for the work done," stated HALT Senior Counsel Suzanne M. Blonder. "The Delaware State Bar has a program in place that's meant to resolve these kinds of everyday disputes between clients and lawyers, but unfortunately the system fails to effectively serve consumers."

HALT criticized the Delaware bar's heavy reliance on lawyers to arbitrate fee disputes. "The self-regulated nature of Delaware's system fuels the public's perception that the lawyer-client dispute resolution system is of the lawyers, by the lawyers and for the lawyers," explained Blonder. HALT noted the state bar only allows non-lawyers to serve as arbitrators when the amount in dispute exceeds $15,000.

In addition, Delaware received low marks for allowing attorneys to refuse clients' requests to arbitrate. "Because attorneys are not required to participate in the program, many consumers are forced to take their cases to court, which can be time-consuming and often cost-prohibitive," said Blonder.

HALT's Report Card graded states in six categories: (1) whether lawyers must participate in arbitration at a client's request; (2) the ease of initiating arbitration; (3) the amount of publicity of the state's fee arbitration system; (4) the program's reliance on non-lawyer arbitrators; (5) whether non-binding mediation is offered as an alternative to arbitration; and (6) how the system enforces arbitration awards.

The top five states - D.C., Maine, New Jersey, New York and California - scored no higher than a B average on the Report Card. Three states - New Hampshire, Vermont and West Virginia - flunked. Another eight received Incompletes because they do not offer statewide systems to settle lawyer-client fee disputes.

"In an era of skyrocketing lawyer fees, we hope Delaware officials will reform the state's fee arbitration program so that more clients can effectively resolve their disputes with lawyers," stated Blonder.