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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
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Ninth Circuit Nixes Attorney’s Challenge |To Arbitrator Appointment System

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - The Ninth Circuit has rejected an Arizona tax attorney's challenge to the system of appointing arbitrators in Maricopa County to work for highly subsidized rates.

After his third appointment, attorney Mark V. Scheehle filed suit against the Arbitrator Appointment System of the Maricopa County Superior Court, which requires experienced local lawyers to serve as arbitrators, if asked, for at least two days a year at a rate of $75 per day. Scheehle, who was asked three times in two years, refused the third time and was fined $900. He claimed the system constitutes an unconstitutional taking and violates his Fifth Amendment right to be paid for his work.

Writing for the unanimous panel, Judge Callahan held that the appointment system does not constitute a regulatory taking and that the "bundle of rights a person acquires with admission to a bar does not include a right to compensation under the Fifth Amendment for duties that he or she owes to the court."

See ruling in Scheehle v. Supreme Court Justices of Arizona.

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