California may soon be joining Washington, Utah, and Arizona by allowing non-lawyer trained professionals to offer legal advice. Personally, I am excited for the new-to-be Californian Paraprofessionals (this portmanteau is presumably because the term paralegals was already taken). If you’ve been to or know anyone who’s worked at a legal clinic or state-funded legal services, you know that even when the heart is willing, the demand is high. Paraprofessionals could be a solution to a very pressing problem: how do we increase access to quality legal assistance for folks on a budget? And for the JDs who are already revving up their gatekeeping or whining about having to take the bar if paraprofessionals can do the same thing, know that they don’t have carte blanche authority.
Under the proposal, paraprofessionals would be limited to offering services in the areas of consumer debt; employment and income maintenance; family children and custody; and housing. They would not be eligible to provide criminal legal services except for expungements. And they would be limited to specific functions within those areas. Within the employment category, for example, paraprofessionals would be able to handle unemployment and public benefits proceedings. Paraprofessionals would be allowed to appear in court under the current proposal but would be barred from handling jury trials.
I hope that this really takes off. I don’t want to understate the importance of Utah or anything, but California adopting something is kind of big. If this program is successful, the demand for paraprofessionals is likely to spill over into the rest of the country as a whole. Except maybe Texas. I got a feeling they don’t see eye to eye with the West Coast juggernaut on most things.
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‘A Very Big Deal.’ Nonlawyer Licensing Plan Clears Hurdle In California [Reuters]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. Before that, he wrote columns for an online magazine named The Muse Collaborative under the pen name Knehmo. He endured the great state of Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected].