Chamber Tells Officials to Keep Courthouse Open

The Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to state and county officials decrying the proposed closure of the Beverly Hills Courthouse, the chamber announced last week.

"This Courthouse is centrally located within the Westside of Los Angeles and the estimated 18,000-20,000 legal professionals practicing law here," the chamber wrote in the letter to Assemblyman Richard Bloom, state Sen. Ted Lieu, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and other state and county officials. "We fear that the shuttering of all the courtrooms will have a netgative impact on the  upon a legal community that has been a traditional cornerstone of the City’s economy."

Budget cuts have forced court closures and staff reductions, which the Los Angeles Superior Court announced last year. Courtrooms slated for closure include those in Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Malibu, Huntington Park, Whittier, Pomona North and San Pedro.

The Beverly Hills Courthouse has 250,000 visitors and handles 70,000 filings annually, according to the chamber.

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