Pilot Launch Date Set for Historic New Legal-Service Delivery Models
SEATTLE, WA [Oct. 14, 2025] — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) expects to open its application portal on Oct. 21, 2025, to launch a historic moment in state history: For the first time, businesses and nonprofits can seek authorization to offer legal services, via a process called the Entity Regulation Pilot Project. Until now, only individual people licensed by the Washington Supreme Court (mainly lawyers) have been allowed to own law firms and practice law.
The Washington Supreme Court authorized the project in December 2024, giving the go-ahead for the WSBA and Practice of Law Board to design and implement the time-bound, data-driven pilot to determine how entities can be regulated in a way that protects consumers and expands access to legal services.
“This is an opportunity for anyone with an innovative business idea to do good by doing well,” said WSBA Executive Director Terra Nevitt. “We have not made a meaningful dent in the access-to-justice gap despite decades of our best efforts and intentions. The Entity Regulation Pilot Project allows us to explore legal service models never before possible that could amplify legal access and reach.”
The pilot project opens the door for business models that incorporate innovative uses of technology and/or non-lawyer advocates, among other possibilities:
- A technology company owned entirely by persons not licensed to practice law designs a software application to assist Washingtonians in determining whether they are eligible to have their medical debt reduced or waived and assists individuals in filling out related forms to do so.
- A nonprofit delivering social services to low-income individuals expands the scope of its services to have its employees who are not licensed to practice law deliver direct, limited, and targeted legal services related to assistance with housing assistance and eviction actions.
Several other states—notably Utah—have implemented similar legal regulatory “sandboxes,” allowing entities to test innovative service models while being closely supervised. Washington’s Entity Regulation Pilot Project offers the largest economic marketplace for such entrepreneurship as well as the state’s hallmark status as a technology and innovation incubator. The pilot project is authorized for 10 years, and the Court will evaluate the accumulated data to decide whether to make permanent regulatory changes.
Want to learn more? Visit www.wsba.org/entityreg for the latest information; fill out this online form to receive updates throughout the pilot project; and get ready to apply on Oct. 21!
About the Washington State Bar Association
The WSBA operates under the delegated authority of the Washington Supreme Court and exercises a governmental function authorized by the Court to license and regulate the state’s nearly 40,000 legal professionals, including lawyers, limited practice officers, and limited license legal technicians. The WSBA both regulates legal professionals under the authority of the Court and serves its members as a professional association — all without public funding. The WSBA administers the Bar admission process, including the bar exam; provides record-keeping and licensing functions; administers the lawyer discipline system; and provides continuing legal education for legal professionals, in addition to numerous other educational and member-service activities. The Bar’s mission is to serve the public and its members, to ensure the integrity of the legal profession, and to champion justice.
