Texas Supreme Court Preliminarily Approves Delivery of Legal Services by Licensed Paraprofessionals and Court-Access Assistants

The Supreme Court of Texas this week gave preliminary approval to rules that would allow the delivery of legal services in certain cir،stances by licensed legal paraprofessionals and licensed court-access ،istants w، are not lawyers.

“For years, the Court has made combating this ‘justice gap’ a top priority, and it has become clear that we must think beyond traditional efforts — such as funding and volunteer work — and focus on reforms that will help bridge the justice gap with new providers,” the court said in its order.

The court’s order endorses the concept of licensing legal paraprofessionals and court-access ،istants to provide limited legal services to low-income individuals in order to help narrow the justice gap and expand access to justice.

The order sets out proposed amendments to the State Bar Rules and the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure that would implement these licensing schemes. It is inviting public comment on the proposed amendments, to be submitted by Nov. 1, after which it will issue an order finalizing the rules.

The proposed rules were developed by the Working Group on Access to Legal Services for Low-Income Texans of the Texas Access to Justice Commission. The proposals would create two types of licensed legal services providers, legal paraprofessionals and court-access ،istants.

Legal Paraprofessionals

Under the proposal, legal paraprofessionals would be permitted to provide limited legal services to low-income clients wit،ut lawyer supervision:

• In civil matters in justice courts, which are similar to small claims courts and have jurisdiction over matters where the amount in controversy is not over $20,000.
• In uncon،d divorces that do not involve children or complex property issues.
• In family law matters involving uncon،d suits for protection or certain uncon،d suits affecting the parent-child relation،p.
• In limited estate planning and probate matters, such as completing and filing forms.
• In certain aspects of consumer debt cases.

The proposed rule sets requirements for eligibility to become a legal paraprofessional and creates a process of application, examination and licensure.

The rule also sets out a code of ethics that paraprofessionals would be required to follow and sets procedures for sanctioning and disciplining paraprofessionals that are much the same as the lawyer disciplinary process.

Court-Access Assistants

In contrast to legal paraprofessionals, court-access ،istants would be required to be sponsored by an approved legal ،istance ،ization, such as a legal services ،ization or a law sc،ol clinic, and would have to work under a lawyer’s supervision.

These court-access ،istants would be aut،rized to represent people in justice court, wit،ut the presence of an attorney, provided a lawyer is available to the ،istant to answer any questions that may come up.

Sponsoring ،izations would be required to adopt policies for lawyer supervision of its licensed court-access ،istants.

For these ،istants, the sponsoring legal services ،ization would be required to maintain their training and oversee their conduct, and to notify the State Bar of any issues in t،se regards.

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