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                  - Home
                  - Grants                      - Project Grants
                    - Technical Assistance Grants
                    - Curriculum Adaptation & Training Grant
                    - Strategic Initiatives Grants
                    - Education Support Program
                    - Funding Toolkit 
                  - News
                  - Grantee Spotlights
                  - Priority Investment Areas                      - Court Pandemic Response and Recovery Grant Program 
                  - Grant Management
                  - About SJI                      - Board of Directors
                    - Executive Director
                    - Past Members
                    - SJI Budget 

### Supporting the Nation's Judicial System & the Public it Serves

#### 					NEWS				

## Washington State Launches Alternative to Under/Unrepresented Caseloads

As recently as 2017, 86 percent of litigants in civil cases received inadequate or no legal help, according to one study.  That fact didn’t come as a surprise to those who are trying to close the nation’s justice gap.

In one attempt to close it, Washington became the first state to allow specially trained paralegals to help people without lawyers fill out paperwork and answer questions about legal procedures.  The state’s Limited License Legal Technician (LLLT) Program is now five years old, and this fall NCSC will start evaluating it.  Other states, including Utah, Minnesota, New Mexico, Arizona and New York, are starting or have started similar programs, and many more states are eager to learn if these programs can effectively help large numbers of people who can’t afford lawyers.

Washington’s program and others like it “would be a radical expansion of what it means as far as who can provide legal services,” said Paula Hannaford-Agor, a principal court research consultant who is leading the study.

NCSC’s evaluation, funded by SJI**,** will include a focus group of some of Washington’s 40 or so current LLLTs, a survey of lawyers, judges, LLLTs and clients, and a comparison of the outcome of cases with and without LLLT participation.  The goal of the 18-month review, which will start in October, will be to determine if LLLTs are adequately trained, if they’re meeting the needs of their clients, and if they earn enough money to do these jobs full time.

This isn’t the first time NCSC has reviewed the program, which was created by Washington’s state courts and its bar association.  NCSC and the American Bar Foundation conducted a preliminary evaluation in 2016 and produced a report in 2017.

While many states are eager to learn from Washington’s program, a few are already moving forward. Last year, Utah approved a new class of legal professionals called licensed paralegal practitioners.  LLPs, as they’re called, will be permitted to help litigants in a wide array of cases, including separation, divorce, domestic abuse, stalking, name changing, custody and support, forcible entry, and debt-collection matters that don’t exceed $11,000 – Utah’s statutory limit for small claims cases.

#### LATEST NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

                  -  Sixteen State Courts Participate in Groundbreaking Workshop for Racial Justice Education  Read More**   
                  -  New Resource: The Rural Justice Collaborative Digest for June 2024  Read More**   
                  -  SJI Board Awards FY 2024 Third Quarter Grants  Read More**   
                  -  SJI Executive Director, Jonathan Mattiello, Congressional Briefing Panelist on Capitol Hill  Read More**   

#### CONTACT US

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                       Tel: 703.660.4979

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                       12700 Fair Lakes Circle, Suite 340
                       Fairfax, VA 22033         

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