Law Times

Page 10 June 15, 2015 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com FOCUS Legal technicians filling service gap in Washington By Marg. BruineMan For Law Times he state of Washington is proving to be a leader in expanding the legal model in the United States with its adoption of lim- ited licence legal technicians to help address the gaps in legal ser- vices in family law. The move seeks to fill the huge gap in access to family law services and includes plans to eventually broaden to other practice areas. And there are indications that other jurisdictions may follow suit. "After we defined the scope of what they could do in family law, we developed a curriculum at law school," says Steve Crossland, a sole practitio- ner who serves as chairman of Washington's Limited License Legal Technician Board. "Our judges are now realiz- ing by having [legal technicians] involved that their dockets will be freed up." A three-year program devel- oped at the state's law schools saw its first cohort of 14 graduates this year. The program followed consultations with family law practitioners to address access to justice issues. As in many parts of Canada, a large portion of those involved in family law issues rep- resent themselves in Washington. Limited licence legal tech- nicians are able to do much of the work on a family law file, al- though lawyers handle the more complex issues. The mandatory education outlines what they can't do in order to delineate the boundaries. Crossland began working on the project more than a decade ago after sitting on a disciplin- ary committee. It became clear to him then that access to justice remained an outstanding issue and the traditional model wasn't going to fix the problem. From there, he began searching for al- ternative solutions. But there was pushback be- fore the Washington State Bar Association decided to go ahead with the program. When the motion first came up in 2006, it went down to de- feat by a 13-1 margin. And the support only grew to two by the next vote in 2008. Earlier this year, the Wash- ington Supreme Court also de- cided legal technicians could have minority ownership in law firms with some limitations. Crossland sees that as poten- tially beneficial to lawyers be- cause it would allow law firms to expand into areas they may not be currently working in. A study done for the court identi- fied a latent market where peo- ple didn't know or believe they required legal help. In Ontario, the Law Society of Upper Canada began regulating paralegals in 2007. An indepen- dent review of paralegal regula- tion that examined their scope of practice five years later resulted in no changes. While Ontario is the only province regulating paralegals, other provinces place restric- tions on what they can do. Stephen Parker, president of the Ontario Paralegal As- sociation, says some paralegals had been doing work in family law prior to regulation. And al- though nothing resulted from the review in Ontario, the ex- panded scope remains on the table. The United States, he adds, is the latest to go in that direction after Australia and Britain. In England, he adds, the work of the paralegal leans more towards solicitor work whereas in Canada the focus is more on advocacy. Parker sees a continuing evo- lution, although perhaps not a rapid one, of the role of para- legals. New licensing exams in Ontario will begin in August and will further formalize the field. "Paralegals have come a very long way," says Parker, pointing to former police officer Brian Lawrie's struggle to carve out a niche after launching POINTTS in 1984. "It takes time," he adds. "We're in it for the haul." Family law practitioner Ste- ven Benmor, chairman of the Ontario Bar Association's fam- ily law section, has been a keen observer of the debate over whether the role of paralegals should expand to family law. Lawyers, of course, haven't nec- essarily embraced paralegals' interest in expanding the scope of their work. But as Benmor points out, roughly half of those who experience a marital sepa- ration represent themselves. Benmor also predicts that with the bencher elections now over, the debate over alternative business structures will now move to the next level. Washington's experience has led Crossland on something of a cross-country tour as he speaks to bar associations, courts, and groups in more than a dozen states about the changes. He also recently addressed a group in British Columbia. Crossland sees a continuing evolution of the limited licence legal technician model. Immi- gration, for instance, is an area where he sees licensed practitio- ners who aren't lawyers can have a positive impact. It may be possible in the fu- ture, he says, to see law schools offering similar programs in specialty areas to provide al- ternative, more accessible legal services. One possible scenario is offering of one-, two- or three- year law degrees with each tai- lored to meet the needs of the consumer instead of the current focus on a single program. That would also allow for a narrow focus for limited licence legal technicians. From his perspective, Ben- mor sees a role in family law for professionals other than lawyers as long as they have the proper training, annual updates, and clear regulations. "The big but is that they ought to be operating under the auspic- es of a lawyer," he says. 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Lifshitz Partner, Torkin Manes LLP COURSE HIGHLIGHTS • Cloud 2.0 – Evolving Cloud Agreements and Current Contract Trends • Drafting Balanced Representations and Warranties/ Indemnities • Demystifying Service Level Agreements - Avoiding the "Gotchyas" • Best practices for Privacy and Data Security • Negotiating the Exit – Ensuring Successful Transition • Clouds for Financial Service Providers • Clouds for Healthcare Providers/ Pharma DATE & LOCATION October 6, 2015 St. Andrews Club and Conference Centre 150 King St West, 27th Floor Toronto, ON M5H 1J9 Webinar also available. Untitled-5 1 2015-06-10 1:54 PM T 'The big but is that they ought to be oper- ating under the auspices of a lawyer,' says Steven Benmor.

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