Public Hearing Deals With Access to Advice

In an effort to increase the availability of low-cost legal services and improve access of lower-income people to the legal system, a committee of the State Bar of California proposed last April that non-lawyers be allowed to provide some legal services and advice.

The State Bar, which has neither responded enthusiastically to that controversial proposal nor endorsed the committee’s report, has announced public hearings in two weeks in Los Angeles to review the committee’s recommendations.

The Public Protection Committee of four lawyers and four non-lawyers recommended that non-lawyers, who would be called “legal technicians,” be authorized by law to render a broad range of law-related services, short of appearing in court.

Currently, it is unlawful for any non-lawyer to engage in the practice of law, although critics have contended that the phrase “practice of law” is so broad that it covers many fairly common activities performed by such non-lawyers as real estate brokers, accountants, bankers, title companies and notaries public.

Under the proposed scheme, legal technicians would be registered by the State of California. They would be required to inform customers that they were not attorneys and could face civil penalties up to $2,500 if they failed to do so.

The “unauthorized practice of law” statutes would be amended so that only a non-lawyer who falsely claimed he was an attorney or appeared in court could be punished. Legal technicians would not be regulated by a state agency but could be sued by their clients for injuries caused by incompetent or negligent advice. In addition, notaries public would be required to disclose in all advertising that they were not attorneys.

Fraud Potential

The committee acknowledged the potential for consumer fraud by legal technicians, but it found that “the overwhelming need to provide better access to legal services justifies some risk of individual harm.”

The committee noted that lawyers cannot provide or don’t want to provide better legal access for low- and middle-income persons, especially in landlord-tenant, immigration, family and bankruptcy law.

There is no doubt that certain legal services, such as uncontested divorces, name changes, uncontested adoptions, simple wills, the preparation of income tax returns, certain real estate matters, simple personal bankruptcies, collections, and the incorporation of a small business are often standardized and routine and can be competently performed by financial advisors, escrow agents, paralegals and--in some instances--even typing services.

On the other hand, critics of the recommendations raise some valid concerns about the proposed legislation. It does not require minimum educational requirements for, or impose ethical restrictions on, legal technicians. A client’s confidences would not be protected by the attorney-client privilege.

It is a controversial topic, worthy of further consideration. If you have an opinion, you can participate in the public hearings.

They will be held Jan. 26 in the Pacific Room of the Beaudry Center, 333 S. Beaudry Ave., Los Angeles. To obtain a copy of the report or to request time to speak, contact Patricia Edith in the State Bar’s San Francisco office, telephone (415) 561-8221.