The California Bar task force is investigating whether regulatory changes are required to address the need for access to affordable legal services.
The task force, consisting of 22 members—half of whom are not lawyers—are rethinking professional regulation in order to improve access to justice without sacrificing public protection. Specific reforms include proposals relaxing regulations regarding the unauthorized practice of law, which will allow certain qualified nonlegal professionals to provide legal services under certain conditions. Some recommendations suggest relaxing long-standing prohibitions against fee-splitting and nonlawyer ownership of law firms be largely eliminated.
California’s work is being watched closely by others around the country. The output from the task force has “contributed mightily to the national discussion around access to justice and whether the [ABA Model] Rules may be contributing to that problem,” says Jayne Reardon, Executive Director of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism.
The proposed regulatory amendments continue to be heavily debated. It will be interesting to see what happens and the impact on the future of lawyering.
Read more about California’s task force here.
