The New Jersey Supreme Court's newly won right to raise more than $40 million through increased filing fees is being met with concern by members of the bar who are skeptical that it won't be enough to pay for all the programs the court wants, along with fears that those new fees will be raised on the backs of the poor.

The court heard about an hour of testimony Oct. 21 regarding the fee increases, which are set to go into effect next month. The court is considering a broad range of increases, but has not decided on a final fee schedule.

Gov. Chris Christie signed legislation Aug. 11 that gives the court permission to increase filing fees to raise approximately $42.1 million to pay for the expected costs of pretrial services, the creation of an electronic filing system and subsidies to Legal Services of New Jersey.

Of the money expected to be raised, $22 million is slated to fund pretrial services if voters approve a proposed constitutional amendment next month that would allow for some defendants charged with violent crimes to be held without bail. But the bail reform measure also seeks to have more defendants released without having to post any bail, which requires the creation of a pretrial services division within the judiciary.

Another $10.1 million is earmarked for Legal Services, which has repeatedly seen its funding from public sources cut in recent years. The remainder of the money will be used to pay for e-court technology.

Robert Hille, the second vice president of the New Jersey State Bar Association, said at the Oct. 21 hearing that the bar has concerns about the proposed fee increases, adding the bar believes that the judiciary should not be required to fund itself.

"This will impact litigants, attorneys and pro se [litigants] who don't qualify for fee waivers," said Hille, of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter in Morristown, N.J.

It is important, he said, for the court to ensure that everyone retains access to the court system and is not forced out because of an inability to pay for its services.

The bar, Hille added, also is unsure if the fee increases will generate enough revenue to pay for all the programs the judiciary is seeking to fund.

"We're not sure if this will reach the financial goals," he said. "It's hard to say revenues will meet expectations."

Legal Services Vice President Harold Rubenstein told the court that his organization, which provides free legal assistance to the poor, is working on a fee proposal that will be submitted within several months.

Legal Services is particularly worried, he said, that the court will increase the fees charged to fight foreclosures and to have criminal records expunged.

Rubenstein said Legal Services is arguing that filing fees should be waived for anyone in New Jersey whose income is at 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

Alexander Shalom, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said the court will have to make policy decisions when it sets a new fee schedule.

Increasing certain fees could make getting expungements more difficult to obtain, make foreclosures harder to fight and make diversionary programs available only to those who can afford them, Shalom said.

"There are ways to do this other than on the backs of the poor," he said, adding the ACLU agrees with Legal Services that fees should be waived for anyone whose income is at 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

Those concerns were echoed by Scott Welfel, an attorney with the Newark-based New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.

There are 900,000 households in the state who live above the poverty level but who don't earn enough to meet their basic needs, he said.

"They do not have the discretionary funds for filing fees as they stand now," Welfel said.

The proposed increases are also being opposed by the New Jersey Creditors Bar Association, said one of its attorneys, Arthur Raimon.

Raimon, of Morgan Melhuish Abrutyn in Livingston, N.J., said the actual fee increases should have been set by the legislature and should not be the responsibility of the court.

"This is the province of the legislature," he said. "They cannot abandon that duty and they have in this case. Send it to the legislature so they can do their job."

Raimon said his association also objects to having filing fees supplement Legal Services' budget.

"They should be funded, but not in this manner," he said. This method, said Raimon, creates a conflict of interest since his clients will be paying for their adversaries' legal fees if they are represented by Legal Services attorneys.

Gerard Felt, representing the New Jersey Association of Collection Agencies, also argued against the proposed fee hikes. Of particular concern, he said, is that only six of the dozens of proposed increases come from the Criminal Division.

"You're asking the Civil Division to support the other courts," said Felt, of Pressler & Pressler in Parsippany-Troy Hills, N.J. Felt also said he doubts the judiciary will see the anticipated revenue it seeks because fewer complaints will be filed.

Michelle Lefkowitz, director of legal programs for Partners for Women and Justice in Montclair, N.J., joined with the other public interest groups in asking the court to not increase fees for indigent litigants, especially single mothers who are seeking to enforce child support orders or who are victims of domestic abuse.

"It's fundamentally unfair" to require them to pay additional costs, she said.

Leonard Franco Jr., the managing attorney for Encore Capital Group, a debt-collection company, issued a warning: Any additional costs his company is forced to pay will be passed on to those targeted. "We will seek reimbursement," he said.

Vineland, N.J., solo Michael Hoffman, who represents small businesses in debt-collection matters, also warned that his clients will seek reimbursement from their adversaries, and that money may not be available.

"This is the blood from the stone," he said. "These are the ones who are going to be squeezed."

Chief Justice Stuart Rabner did not say when the court would release a final fee schedule.