Washington state attorneys and educators are working to create a new type of legal professional who can provide counsel without a law degree, with the goal of providing less expensive services to underserved populations. 

Administered through the Washington State Bar Association, the program enables both experienced paralegals and new students studying to become paralegals, who take additional courses and pass relevant exams, to become what are called limited license legal technicians. 

Once licensed, LLLTs can advise clients, perform legal research, and draft documents to be filed, although they can’t represent clients in court or negotiate on their behalf.

Attorneys here say the new program is just beginning to gain some traction, having started its fourth class of students this past fall. 

So far the program has produced 20 licensed LLLTs who are currently practicing throughout the state, although only one is located on the east side of the state, with offices in Wenatchee.

Spokane-area attorneys Jeanne Dawes, Genevieve Mann, and Gail Hammer serve as members of the Limited License Legal Technician Board, an organization that was created by the state Supreme Court to supervise the LLLT rule. Members of the board help to develop regulations for the LLLT profession, as well as continuing education requirements, and disciplinary procedures. 

Dawes is an attorney with Spokane-based Gore & Grewe PS, and Mann and Hammer are professors with Gonzaga University’s School of Law who also help to manage what’s called University Legal Assistance, a nonprofit clinical law program. 

“Our legal clinic here is only able to serve people who qualify for low-income legal services,” says Mann. “There’s still a large population who don’t qualify as low income, but can’t afford an attorney, who would benefit from the services of an LLLT. We see it here, and in many other communities statewide.” 

The three women say they see the new LLLT profession as a conduit through which that underserved population can obtain much-needed support. 

“Some attorneys are leery of LLLTs,” says Dawes. “The fear is that they may not be well trained enough, or that they may add to competition for clients. However, we’re confident this program provides excellent training for LLLTs, and rather than competing for existing clients, is designed to cater to a previously unserved population.” 

Cashmere, Wash.-based attorney Steve Crossland serves as chairman of the LLLT board. He says the program was designed with two purposes in mind. 

 “The idea was first to protect those who had purchased legal services, making sure they were getting the services they had paid for from a qualified professional,” he says. “The second factor was providing access to justice for people who couldn’t normally afford the services of an attorney.” 

Crossland says LLLTs can set up their own practices, but also likely will be working at law firms and legal aid organizations. He says most LLLTs will charge between 25 percent and 35 percent of what an attorney in their geographical area normally would charge for legal services.

Paula Littlewood, the Washington State Bar Association’s executive director, says the process of creating the LLLT program has moved slowly but is steadily gaining momentum.  

“We had to figure out how to regulate and run this whole new profession, first training these individuals and then enforcing regulation,” Littlewood says. 

Serving in an oversight capacity, she says the WSBA funds and staffs the LLLT board, and also helps to develop the education requirements for the LLLT program. 

She says the role of a legal technician within the practice of law is similar to that of a nurse practitioner in health care.

“Legal technician education requirements come in two parts, the first being a 45-credit core education at the community college level, equivalent to an associate’s degree,” she says.

Littlewood says that portion is similar to a paralegal education, but with additional aspects. This first portion of the program is offered at five community colleges—Spokane Community College here, Tacoma Community College in Tacoma, Highline Community College in Des Moines, Edmonds Community College in Lynnwood, and Whatcom Community College in Bellingham. 

Crossland says the LLLT board also is in discussions with Green River Community College in Auburn, and the University of Washington, to add the program’s core requirement to their college course offerings.

The second portion of the LLLT program is a 15-credit practice education portion, where students begin to focus on specific areas of the law. 

So far, the only practice area that has been approved is family law, although both Littlewood and Crossland say the LLLT board is working to add others. 

Currently the required family law courses are offered only through the University of Washington. However, Littlewood says all of those courses are streamed online, so a student can take the practice area courses from anywhere in the state. 

Once the enrolled students have completed those credits, they have to take three exams and complete 3,000 supervised hours over about 18 months under a practicing attorney to earn their license. 

“This program mirrors other professions in that there are prescribed education requirements, exams, and then continuing education in order to maintain the license,” Littlewood says.

Crossland says when the program was launched, the board first set out to identify which practice areas were most in need of low-cost legal services. 

“Some of those areas we thought of included family law, landlord tenant law, elder law, and immigration law,” he says. “We’re currently in the process of recommending a new practice area to the Supreme Court, which would focus on estate and health care law. If it’s approved, we’d like to start teaching those classes this fall.”

Crossland says so far, along with the 20 licensed graduates, the LLLT program has 21 students who’re enrolled in practice area classes and 18 students who’ve completed the program and are eligible to take the final exam before becoming licensed.

Littlewood says the hardest part of the program’s pipeline is getting students through the core courses.

“It takes time to get that first group through the core education requirements, so they’re able to move on to the practice area portion,” she says. 

To help smooth the process and get LLLTs into the field faster, Crossland says the LLLT board created a waiver that enables paralegals with 10 years of substantive work under the supervision of a licensed attorney to bypass the core classes, and move straight into taking the 15-credit practice area courses.

 “These individuals are eligible to skip the core requirements and start practice area classes provided they have passed the national exam for paralegal and are a member in good standing in that national organization,” he says. 

“The waiver is a good thing,” he adds, “because it brings in more people who are able to start studying the practice area right away, enabling them to get licensed and into the field faster.”

Although the initial waiver ended in December of 2016, Crossland says the Supreme Court has approved a recommendation to extend it for an additional five years. 

Crossland says typically students in the LLLT program are either paralegals who’re looking for a way to become independent of an attorney, or are people who desired to attend law school but can’t afford the high cost.

“This allows them the option to practice in family law, so some see it as a reasonable alternative,” he says. “It also helps us achieve our goal of providing access to justice for those who can’t afford it.”

Mirisa Bradbury, an instructor and director of the paralegal program at Spokane Community College, says she encourages students who are interested in pursuing the LLLT program to take the courses as part of their associate’s degree. 

“The LLLT program is just developing, but I get a lot of paralegal students who’re interested,” she says. “I usually recommend they pursue it, as many of the core courses are either already required or still very useful for the paralegal profession.”

Natasha Ruiz is one of Bradbury’s students at SCC who decided to pursue the LLLT program as part of earning her associate’s degree. 

“I did a lot of research into the program before starting,” says Ruiz. “It’s a way to get started in the legal field, while also helping to serve low-income populations who don’t always have access to legal services.” 

Upon completing the LLLT program, Ruiz says she plans to move into what’s known as the Admission to Practice Rule (APR), or Rule Six Law Clerk Program, which enables students to study under an experienced attorney for four years before they’re qualified to sit for the state’s bar exam.

Although she’s only one-third of the way done, Ruiz says she’s impressed with the LLLT program so far.

“The quality of the education I’m getting through this program is really stellar,” she says. “The courses are taught by very knowledgeable, responsive instructors who truly care about your success.”

Looking ahead, Crossland says the LLLT board is focused on adding more practice areas to the program, lessening the restrictions concerning LLLTs in courtrooms, and dispersing licensed LLLTs throughout the state to ensure better access to legal services.

“The original waiver doesn’t allow for LLLTs to appear in court or negotiate with clients, but we’re working to lessen those restrictions a bit to allow them to appear in court to offer support, as we feel that’s important,” he says. 

Although Crossland believes it will take some time for the program to really get going, he says the LLLT board is hopeful it will do well, perhaps serving as a starting point for similar programs in other states. 

“We’ve had opportunities to travel and speak with various state bar associations, courts, and lawyers, who’ve expressed interest in adopting this rule,” says Crossland. “Five or six other states have been looking at it seriously, and we hope that our experience will help ease the path for them to create their own programs.”