Category Archives: Regulation

South Carolina Supreme Court Creates Board of Paralegal Certification.

15 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by in Certification, Paralegals/Legal Assistants, Regulation, South Carolina Supreme Court

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South Carolina Supreme Court creates a State Board of Paralegal Certification, by Edward Nelson, NY Public Policy Examiner, examiner.com (with hat tip to William P. Statsky)

http://www.examiner.com/article/south-carolina-supreme-court-creates-a-state-board-of-paralegal-certification

Today [November 11, 2015], the South Carolina Supreme Court issued an Order which gives legitimacy to Rule 429 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules (SCACR) and creates the Board of Paralegal Certification where paralegals can voluntarily apply to become certified with the State of South Carolina. According to the Supreme Court, ‘The purpose of certification of South Carolina’s paralegals is to assist in the delivery of legal services to the public by identifying individuals who are qualified by education, training, and experience and who have demonstrated knowledge, skill, and proficiency to perform substantive legal work under the direction and supervision of a lawyer licensed in South Carolina.’

This is a tremendous Order from the South Carolina Supreme Court issued on November 12, 2015. The Board of Paralegal Certification shall be formed of five (5) attorneys in good standing with the South Carolina Bar and four (4) paralegals certified under the program which constitutes a nine (9) member board. . . .

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A Rose By Any Other Name . . . .

19 Sunday Jul 2015

Posted by in Lawyer Supervision, National Exams, Paralegals/Legal Assistants, Professional Organizations, Regulation, Unauthorized Practice of Law

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Attorney’s Quick Guide to Paralegal Credentials, by Misty L. Sheffield, Atlanta Paralegal Services©2015

http://www.atlantaparalegalservices.com/2011/08/attorneys-quick-guide-to-paralegal-credentials/

 

Attorneys looking for a paralegal to hire full-time, part-time or on a contract basis will be faced with a variety of titles and credentials. Paralegals are not a licensed profession, but credentials are offered by the national paralegal organizations on a voluntary basis. This is a quick reference guide to the most commonly used national paralegal titles and credentials. This list does not include state-specific credentials. . . .

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Limited License Legal Technicians – Can They Really Practice Law?

23 Saturday May 2015

Posted by in Family Law, Limited License Legal Technician Program, Paralegals/Legal Assistants, Regulation, Unauthorized Practice of Law, Washington Supreme Court

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Future or Folly: Limited License Legal Technicians, by 2Civility, Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism (with hat tip to William P. Statsky)

http://tinyurl.com/lk9jap6

It’s graduation time. This year, there is a brand new class of graduates in the State of Washington: Limited License Legal Technicians (LLLTs). These graduates are from a unique legal educational program—not a traditional law school. Yet they will eventually have a law license to perform limited legal services in family law. . . .

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Three States Consider Non-Lawyers’ Limited License and Registration Programs.

05 Thursday Mar 2015

Posted by in Lawyer Supervision, Limited License Legal Technician Program, Paralegals/Legal Assistants, Regulation

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Three Notable Updates on Non-Lawyers Providing Legal Assistance, by Robert Ambrogi, Law Sites Blog (with hat tip to William Statsky!)

http://blog.oregonlegalresearch.com/2015/03/non-lawyer-legal-assistance-limited-license-legal-technicians-oregon.html

 

In the January 2015 issue of the ABA Journal, I had an article about Washington state’s limited license legal technician (LLLT) program, which will formally license non-lawyers to deliver legal services in limited circumstances independently, without a lawyer’s supervision. The article also discussed New York’s program of court navigators and reported on other states considering programs similar to Washington’s, including California and Oregon. Since that article came out, there have been three notable developments.

Oregon Task Force Calls for Legal Technicians

In the ABA Journal piece, I noted that the Oregon State Bar had convened a Task Force on limited license legal technicians in 2013 and that its final report was expected soon. On Feb. 13, the Task Force issued its report. In it, the Task Force recommended to the OSB’s board of governors ‘that is consider the general concept of a limited license for legal technicians as one component of the BOG’s overall strategy for increasing access to justice.’ The report noted that a large majority of the Task Force members — but not all of them — concurred in the recommendation.

Should the Board decide to proceed with this concept, the Task Force recommends a new Board or Task Force be established to develop the detailed framework of the program. For the reasons set out herein, the BOG should review the recently established Washington State Bar Association LLLT program and consider it as a potential model.

The report praised the Washington LLLT program as ‘comprehensive and well thought-out’ and urged the OSB, should it decide to proceed with a legal technician program, to ‘review, consider and learn from Washington’s program.’

The Task Force further recommended that the first area to be licensed be family law, including guardianship. . . .

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Non-Lawyers Practicing Law? Washington’s Limited License Legal Technician.

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by in Limited License Legal Technician Program, Paralegals/Legal Assistants, Regulation, Unauthorized Practice of Law

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Debating The Pros and Cons of Non-Lawyers Practicing Law, by Robert Ambrogi, Law Sites Blog

http://www.lawsitesblog.com/2015/01/pros-cons-non-lawyers-practicing-law.html

As I noted here recently, I have an article in the current issue of the ABA Journal about the use of non-lawyers to help close the access to justice gap by allowing them to provide legal advice in limited circumstances. A particular focus of the article is Washington state’s limited license legal technician (LLLT) program.

The article prompted two posts last week at Above the Law that considered the pros and cons of allowing non-lawyers to practice law.

In the first, Can Nonlawyers Close The Access-To-Justice Gap?, Sam Wright, a ‘dyed-in-the-wool, bleeding-heart public interest lawyer,’ couldn’t quite decide how he feels about the idea. ‘It’s easy to see how this could be a win for low- and middle-income people who currently find themselves floundering in the access-to-justice gap,’ he writes. But then he goes on to say that it is ‘also easy to see how this could be a blow to the present-day legal profession with its hordes of underemployed lawyers’ and that it is ‘also easy to see how programs like Washington’s could do a poor job closing the access-to-justice gap.’ Wright’s bottom line is to take a wait-and-see position: ‘Regardless, the LLLT program is an interesting approach to a real problem, and I’ll be watching to see what comes of it.’

From everything I’ve learned about this issue, it is clear to me that this is not about displacing lawyers. The magnitude of the A2J gap is so enormous that lawyers can never close it alone. There could never be a sufficient level of pro bono or reduced-fee services to meet the needs. Study upon study has concluded that 80 to 90 percent of low and moderate income people with legal problems are unable to obtain legal representation. That is an enormous problem.

You may have noticed that, even with a glut of lawyers, the problem isn’t getting fixed. . . .

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Canada’s Paralegal Professional Conduct Guidelines.

27 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by in Canada, Canada Licensing, Paralegals/Legal Assistants, Regulation

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Paralegal Professional Conduct Guidelines, The Law Society of Upper Ontario

http://www.lsuc.on.ca/with.aspx?id=1067

The Paralegal Professional Conduct Guidelines help to interpret and to apply the Paralegal Rules of Conduct.  Amendments to the Model Code (see below) will be effective October 1, 2014. –CCE

http://www.lsuc.on.ca/new-rules/

NEW RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

CTA graphic new rules Rules of conduct amended to implement Federation’s Model Code

Convocation amended the Rules of Professional Conduct and the Paralegal Rules of Conduct to implement the Federation of Law Societies of Canada’s Model Code of Professional Conduct. The Paralegal Professional Conduct Guidelines were also amended.

Key points:

•The amended lawyer and paralegal rules, and paralegal guidelines, come into effect October 1, 2014.

•Most amendments are minor, however some changes are more substantive and introduce new standards – particularly changes to the rules dealing with conflicts of interest, undertakings and withdrawal from representation. See summary of changes – lawyers (PDF) and summary of changes – paralegals (PDF).

•The new lawyer rules include a new numbering scheme that mirrors the Model Code.

•The Law Society is developing new and updating existing resources to assist lawyers and paralegals.

The Law Society is offering free webcasts to ensure that all members can access important information on these changes.

Free webcast on amendments for lawyers – September 8

Free webcast on amendments for paralegals – September 8.

Paralegal Regulation Chart State-By-State.

09 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by in National Exams, Regulation

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Paralegal Regulation, State by State, posted by The National Federation of Paralegal Associations (last updated May 2012)

REGULATION_CHART_5-12final.docx

A non-partisan chart of state-by-state by the paralegal profession., and created by The National Paralegal Association. 

If you have trouble opening the link – or if you are aware of updated information, please contact The National Federation of Paralegal Association at http://www.paralegals.org/default.asp?page=103. -CCE