Task force has 4 months for final report on practicing non-lawyers

A State Bar task force studying whether to broadly open the legal marketplace to nonlawyers has been given an additional three months to finalize its recommendations.

The Task Force on Access Through Innovation of Legal Services now has until March 31 to submit a final report to the bar's Board of Trustees.

The bar said the delay was to give the panel more time to review the public comments it received and "solicit feedback from the public at large."

An initial public comment period that concluded in late September generated more than 1,400 submissions in response to the task force's 16 tentative recommendations, with the overwhelming majority of comments in opposition to the proposals.

The preliminary recommendations suggested allowing nonlawyers to conduct limited legal activities and permitting them to own or invest in law firms and other legal services providers.

One group that has raised issues with the proposals was the Judicial Council, which submitted its written comments a week after the deadline for public comment closed.

"We are concerned that the task force recommends relaxing regulatory prohibitions on non-attorney ownership and participation in the practice of law, when no findings have been presented showing a positive impact on access to justice in other jurisdictions that have experimented with alternative business structures," the council's submission said.

In the letter, which has not been reported on previously, the Judicial Council also said it was concerned "that the research and reports relied on by the task force in its deliberations do not include information about the innovative access work, both human and technological, that has grown across the state" since 2005.

Examples of access efforts the council said it worried were being overlooked include:

•The more than 1.2 million self-represented litigants assisted in court self-help centers and family law facilitators' offices each year.

•The more than 1,000 pages of content on the California courts' website (www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp.htm) to assist self-represented litigants. More than 6 million users per year access the website.

•Courts piloting the use of online dispute resolution services and developing applications and other ways for litigants to easily gain information about their case files.

"California courts have made a significant investment in technology for self-represented litigants and will continue to do so," the council wrote.

The bar's task force has recommended permitting "technology-driven legal services delivery systems" to engage in certain legal activities without committing the unauthorized practice of law.

The Judicial Council, chaired by California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, also pledged its willingness to share data to help better inform the task force's work.

"We appreciate the efforts the State Bar is undertaking, and we hope the Judicial Council can be called upon as an able and experienced partner to address the needs of individuals who require that the justice system is workable, understandable, and fair," the council wrote.

Asked about the Judicial Council's comments, the State Bar provided a statement from Donna Hershkowitz, its chief of programs.

"The State Bar appreciates all the thoughtful comments received on the options, including those of the Judicial Council," Hershkowitz said. "The task force is considering all comments and perspectives in helping to determine what it will recommend in its final report to the Board of Trustees."