Lawyers sound off on impact of budget cuts: 'the public is angry. Very angry'.

"People used to say that justice delayed was justice denied. Now they say that justice delayed is exactly what we expect."

That's the message Tanner Andrews of DeLand left on the bulletin board created on the Bar's Web site where Florida lawyers are being asked to leave accounts of how the state court system budget crisis is affecting their ability to have cases heard and disputes resolved.

"Have you tried to get hearing time recently?" Andrews asked. "The courts are buried in cases, and while the judges are making valiant efforts to move them, the sheer numbers are overwhelming."

Lawmakers slashed court spending by $44 million in the last two years, resulting in the loss of 280 positions out of the judiciary's 3,100-member workforce. Now faced with an additional $2 billion shortfall, lawmakers are contemplating more cuts to plug that hole in the state budget. Looking for ways to bolster grassroots support for putting the court system on fiscally sound footing, the Bar's Judicial Independence Committee created the online bulletin board to get a feel for how the budget losses are impacting the everyday practice of law.

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Appellate practitioner Dorothy Easley of Miami wrote that staffing shortages are taking a toll on the courts' ability to process cases. For instance, she said, some files have gone missing in their entirety because the trimmed workforce is not available to locate them.

"The documents, though filed, did not make it into the court file and, were it not for stamped copies and the agreement of opposing counsel, they would be recorded as never having been filed," said Easley, adding information requests are impossible to obtain and the citizens can spend hours "making call after call" to obtain court information on where to file and how to file documents.

"In the final analysis, attorneys are resourceful and will find ways to struggle through this quagmire. Florida citizens cannot," Easley said.

Stephen Cobb of Crestview put it more bluntly: "The public is angry. Very angry.

"Witnesses, crime victims, law enforcement officers, defendants, and casual observers wait in long lines outside of crowded courtrooms," Cobb wrote, noting it is becoming more difficult for the public to get in touch with the offices of the state attorney, public defender, clerk, or judges.

"As people are losing faith in the legal system, we see and hear of more and more cases where people are resorting to 'self help' when they are unable...