June 2008

Legal Technician Talk

Understanding the proposed Admission to Practice Rule on legal technicians

by WSBA Executive Director Paula Littlewood and WSBA President Stan Bastian

What are legal technicians? Where did the idea originate and why? Will legal technicians be allowed to practice law? How will they be licensed and regulated? How much will they charge clients? Will they be governed by ethical rules? Will they help solve the growing justice gap by providing legal advice to low- and moderate-income people?

These are all good questions and our guess is that, prior to picking up this issue of Bar News, most of you had not heard about the proposed legal technician rule. This and the next edition of Bar News will devote substantial space to the legal technician proposal, and it is our hope, once again, to educate, debate, inform, advise, and stimulate your thoughts on this important issue. This month’s issue provides background information on the history of the Practice of Law Board and the proposed legal technician rule. July’s Bar News will have a number of articles discussing the pros and cons of the idea.

First, some basics. The legal technician proposal was developed by the Practice of Law Board (POLB). One of the primary functions of the POLB is to make recommendations to the Washington State Supreme Court regarding ways non-lawyers may be authorized to engage in certain legal or law-related activities that constitute the practice of law. The POLB has fulfilled this function by developing and now proposing the legal technician rule. This rule was sent to the Supreme Court on January 7, 2008, and the POLB voted unanimously to recommend that it be adopted. As recommended, the legal technician rule would initially be applied only to the area of family law. It is possible that in the future it would be expanded into other practice areas such as landlord/tenant and elder law.

In part, the legal technician rule is an attempt to respond to the unfortunate fact that many people with moderate to low incomes simply cannot afford to pay for lawyers to help with their civil legal problems. If adopted, legal technicians would not be authorized to represent clients in court proceedings or during legal negotiations, but they would be allowed to do the following:

• Review, explain, and complete pleadings and forms.
• Conduct legal research when supervised by a licensed lawyer.
• Draft letters and pleadings when supervised by a licensed lawyer.
• Provide clients with self-help materials and help complete the materials.

The relationship between legal technicians and the client would be governed by the same rules, expectations, and considerations that govern the attorney-client relationship. The technicians would be regulated by a commission appointed by the Supreme Court, but staffed and funded by the Washington State Bar Association.

The educational requirements to become a legal technician would be less than those required to be a lawyer. Instead of an undergraduate college degree and graduation from law school or Washington’s Law Clerk Program, a legal technician would be required, at a minimum, to complete a 90-credit associate’s degree with a minimum of 45 credits in substantive legal courses. The technician would also be required to work for two years under the supervision of a lawyer prior to going out on his/her own. Finally, all potential legal technicians would be required to take an exam on general substantive and procedural law, including ethics and the workings of the court system.

As you read your June and July issues of Bar News, we hope the articles will help inform your own opinions about the proposed rule. The Board of Governors will take this issue up at its September meeting in Seattle and will then communicate with the Supreme Court its position on the proposed rule. Our goal this summer is to help educate WSBA members about the proposed rule and to gather feedback from you. You can view the full text of the rule, the Practice of Law Board’s report to the Supreme Court, and other related information at www.wsba.org/lawyers/groups/practiceoflaw/default.htm.

The Supreme Court has also indicated it would like to hear from the WSBA and our members, so please take a moment after reading the two issues of Bar News to communicate with your representative on the Board of Governors, the Supreme Court, or one of us. Or, you may send your comments to barnewscomments@wsba.org. We look forward to hearing your thoughts! 

WSBA President Stan Bastian can be reached at stanb@jdsalaw.com or 509-662-3685. WSBA Executive Director Paula Littlewood can be reached at paulal@wsba.org, 206-239-2120, or 800-945-9722, ext. 2120.