by Melissa Young Wilcox, Carie Tarte & Heather Moreau
Equal Access to Justice:
Paralegals and Limited Legal Licensure
Equal justice for all is the foundation
of Vermont’s legal system. In September
2001, the Vermont Supreme Court’s Committee on Equal Access to Legal Services
determined that there is limited access to
civil legal assistance for Vermont residents.
The Equal Access to Justice Coalition was
formed in 2004 and has since strived to address this need. Vermont Legal Aid, Vermont Law Line, Have Justice Will Travel,
free legal clinics, and attorneys offering
pro-bono and low-bono services are important resources. Unfortunately, there still
remain a significant number of Vermonters
in need of legal services without access to
representation.
According to recent data obtained from
the Court Administrator’s Office, there are
a large number of pro se litigants in both
the Civil and Family Divisions of Vermont
Superior Court. Of active divorce cases
54% are pro se. 84 % of active parentage
cases are pro se. Of foreclosure actions 1%
of plaintiffs and 74% of defendants are pro
se. 2% of plaintiffs and 85% of defendants
in collections cases are pro se. Of landlord
tenant cases, 24% of plaintiffs and 90% of
defendants are pro se. Of small claims actions 64% of plaintiffs and 94% of defendants are pro se. It is clear from these statistics that there is a noticeable discrepancy between represented plaintiffs and pro
se defendants. Vermont paralegals want to
help bridge this gap and be able to provide direct limited legal assistance to the
self-represented.
Board members of both the Vermont
Paralegal Organization (VPO) and the Vermont Bar Association (VBA) met this past
spring to discuss, among other things, the
potential stratification of the legal profession, paralegal licensure, pro bono clinics, and the ethical considerations related
to these issues. Both organizations agreed
that continued communication and collaboration between them would be beneficial. The VPO Board submitted a proposal to the VBA requesting the creation of a
paralegal section. The VBA approved the
proposal and established the Paralegals
Section in July of 2013. The Section’s first
order of business is planning a dinner and
CLE event regarding the topic of limited legal licensure. This topic was addressed at
the VBA’s 2013 mid-year meeting and it is
the Section’s goal to continue the dialog
until a solution is implemented.
18
Washington State Is Doing It;
Is Vermont Ready?
In November 2001, the Washington
State Supreme Court made a historic decision commissioning the Task Force on
Civil Equal Justice Funding. The Task Force
was, in part, directed to conduct a study of
the civil legal needs of Washington’s lowincome residents, determine the degree to
which these needs were being addressed,
and develop proposals for long-term sustainable funding to ensure that basic legal
assistance is available.
In September 2003, the Task Force concluded its study and published its findings
in the The Washington State Civil Legal
Needs Study. The study concluded that
low income residents of Washington State
had limited access to affordable legal services despite having important legal problems. The results of the study prompted an
initiative to find ways to reduce the cost
of legal services while continuing to maintain quality and reliability of services. The
concept of limited legal licensure for nonlawyers emerged.
On September 3, 2013, upon the recommendation of the Washington Practice of
Law Board, the Washington State Supreme
Court adopted New APR 28 – Limited Practice Rule for Limited License Legal Technicians (New APR 28).1 New APR 28 authorizes certain non-lawyers to render limited
legal assistance or advice in approved
practice areas.
Regulations for Limited License Legal
Technicians
Application Requirements
Under New APR 28, in order for a nonlawyer to render limited legal assistance
and become a Limited License Legal Technician (LLLT) in Washington State, an applicant must:
(1) Age. Be at least 18 years of age;
(2) Moral Character and Fitness to Practice. Be of good moral character and
demonstrate fitness to practice as an
LLLT;
(3) Education. Have the following education, unless waived by the Limited
License Legal Technician Board2 (the
Board) through regulation:
a. an associate level degree or higher;
b. 45 credit hours of core curriculum
instruction in paralegal studies
THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • WINTER 2014
as approved by the Board with
instruction to occur at an ABA
approved law school or ABA approved paralegal education program;
c. In each practice area in which
an applicant seeks licensure, instruction in the approved practice area, which must be based
on a curriculum developed by or
in conjunction with an ABA approved law school. For each approved practice area, the Board
shall determine the key concepts
or topics to be