Today, a member of the MACPA’s Legislative Executive Committee, Art Flach from Grant Thornton, testified before the House Judiciary Committee in support of this proposal, HB 807. A copy of our letter of support can be found here: Download support_supersedeas_bonds2007.doc .

Mary Beth Halpern, the MACPA’s manager of Government Relations, was on hand with Art and our legslative consultant, Nick Manis of Manis, Canning & Associates.

This is civil justice reform by giving professional services firms and privately held businesses access to the appeals court system. Our current system requires a defendant to post a bond equal to the full amount of the lawsuit in order to get an appeal. This puts the appeals process out of reach for professionals services firms (CPAs) and privately help businesses in Maryland. The result is that it forces them to settle cases that they might otherwise seek an appeael on.

If you care about this issue, contact members of the House Judiciary Committee and tell them to vote in support of HB 807.