Senate Considers Expanding Law Practices Beyond Representation by Attorneys

WASHINGTON -- Advocates for low-income persons raised a possibility during a Senate hearing last week that the federal government will allow more non-lawyers to take over responsibilities now limited to attorneys.

Their goal is to close “the justice gap” between wealthy persons who can pay for lawyers and poor persons who cannot afford them.

The justice gap means that among low-income people who have potentially life-altering civil issues, “only a fraction seek legal help and get it,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.

The civil issues commonly touch on family law, housing disputes, employment, small claims and other concerns.

Much of the U.S. legal assistance for disadvantaged persons is supposed to be delivered through the Washington, D.C.-based Legal Services Corp., a nonprofit organization established by Congress in 1974. Congress gave Legal Services Corp. $560 million this year, which it distributes to 130 Legal Aid offices nationwide.

“We must overhaul how we deliver legal services,” Ronald S. Flagg, president of Legal Services Corporation, told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “We must expand the number of people who can lawfully render legal services.”

The only option under the current system is that low-income persons either take a hit to their rights and finances by skipping their legal claims or they are “forced to muddle through by themselves,” Flagg said.

Nearly three quarters of low-income households faced a legal problem in the past year, he said. In 92 percent of the cases, they received no or inadequate legal representation.

The Senate is seriously considering a proposal based on the medical profession. Medical care can be rendered by paramedics, nurses, physician assistants and others, often without ever seeing a doctor.

The legal profession largely limits legal representation to licensed attorneys.

Under various state initiatives, “paraprofessionals” would be authorized to take over simple administrative duties now restricted to lawyers, perhaps even offering in-court representation.

An Alaskan nonprofit organization called Frontline Justice is providing a model for expanded legal representation that other states are considering. The organization recently received Alaska Supreme Court authorization for the paraprofessionals.

Other states so far have been reluctant to authorize what they perceive as the unauthorized practice of law.

Frontline Justice uses about 500 “community justice workers” who are non-lawyers but who come from “a wide range of trusted positions within their community,” said Nikole Nelson, chief executive officer of Anchorage-based Frontline Justice.

The Frontline Justice community justice workers are trained for specific legal functions and paid at lower rates than most lawyers. They are not allowed to provide advice or representation outside of their specific expertise.

For more information, contact The Legal Forum (www.legal-forum.net) at email: [email protected] or phone: 202-479-7240.