Ride the Lightning

Washington Ends Limited License Legal Technicians Program

June 10, 2020

Bob Ambrogi posted some extraordinary news in his June 9^th LawSites blog.

The Washington Supreme Court voted 7-2 to end the state's pioneering Limited License Legal Technicians program, a novel program that the court created in 2012 to help address the unmet legal needs of residents who could not afford a lawyer.

I remember how controversial it was and how all those who lecture on the future of law practice were talking about it as a breakthrough move.

Washington's LLLT program was the first in the United States to license paraprofessionals to give legal advice without the supervision of a lawyer. The state licensed LLLTs only in family law and with a narrower scope of practice than an attorney.

Chief Justice Debra L. Stephens notified officials of the LLLT board and the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) that the program would be sunset. She was one of the two dissenters. She wrote, "[A]fter careful consideration of the overall costs of sustaining the program and the small number of interested individuals, a majority of the court determined that the LLLT program is not an effective way to meet these needs and voted to sunset the program."

The court's decision to terminate the program came at the urging of the WSBA, which cited its cost in running the program. The WSBA said that its net cost of administering the program from 2013 to 2019 had been $1.3 million (about 1% of its total expenses over that period).

Both the WSBA and the court also cited the low number of participants in the program. A search of the WSBA directory for LLLTs produced 45 results, of which 39 are active.

Chief Justice Stephens' letter said that current LLLTs may continue to be licensed and provide services. Individuals in the pipeline to become LLLTs may still be licensed if they complete all requirements by July 31, 2021. No new LLLTs will be admitted after that date, she said.

I am not entirely sure what went wrong here, but it is a disappointing ending to an initiative that once looked promising to many of us who are interested in improving access to justice.

Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., President, Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
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