Category Archives: Non-Lawyer Practice

How Not To Bring The Litigant Voice Into the Legal System

Posted on October 4, 2016 by richardzorza

Richard Moorhead of University College London has a brilliant blog post here, on a recent attempt by the Solicitors Regulatory Association to impact the process of reforming (or not) the exam process for qualifying as a solicitor. (By the way, … Continue reading →

Posted in International Models, Legal Ethics, Non-Lawyer Practice, Political Support | Comments Off on How Not To Bring The Litigant Voice Into the Legal System

Integrating “Roles Beyond Lawyers” into Court Improvement Strategies

Posted on September 19, 2016 by richardzorza

A recent paper by Colleen F. Shanahan, Anna E. Carpenter and Alyx Mark makes a very important point that, as the abstract puts it: Access to justice interventions that provide a little representation, including nonlawyer representation and various forms of … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Access to Counsel, Court Management, Non-Lawyer Practice, Referral Systems, Research and Evalation, Triage, Unbundling | 2 Comments

Article on Incentives in Access to Justice

Posted on September 12, 2016 by richardzorza

My paper on incentives in access to justice has now been published in the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics.  Here it is. Here is the full text of the abstract: Most of the current deregulation discussion focuses on permitting both … Continue reading →

Posted in ABA, Access to Counsel, Alternative Business Structures, Anti-Trust, Bar Associations, Medical System Comparision, Middle Income, Mixed Model, Non-Lawyer Practice, Outcome Measures, Planning, Political Support, Poverty, Pro Bono, Referral Systems, Research and Evalation, Rules Reform, Self-Help Services, Simplification, Systematic Change, Tax Policy, Technology | Comments Off on Article on Incentives in Access to Justice

Triage Should Guide Court Simplification and Non-Lawyer Role Expansion, Not the Other Way Round

Posted on September 11, 2016 by richardzorza

I think I may have been guilty of thinking about the relationship of triage, court simplification and expansion of non-lawyer roles the wrong way round. I have basically been saying something like this: For each case, we should do triage, … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Family Law, Non-Lawyer Practice, Referral Systems, Simplification, Systematic Change, Triage | 5 Comments

DOJ/NSF White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable Report on Access to Justice Research

Posted on September 7, 2016 by richardzorza

I have been much remiss in not blogging earlier about this important and very timely Report from the Department of Justice (NIJ and ATJ) and the National Science Foundation on Research in Access to Justice.  Formally titled White House Legal … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Consumer Rights, Dept. of Justice, expungement, Family Law, Foreclosure, LAIR, Legal Aid, Medical System Comparision, Non-Lawyer Practice, Outcome Measures, Reentry, Referral Systems, Research and Evalation, Self-Help Services | Comments Off on DOJ/NSF White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable Report on Access to Justice Research

We Now Have Data To Help Prioritize ATJ Strategic Focuses

Posted on August 28, 2016 by richardzorza

Yesterday, when I blogged about the first good national sample data on numbers of self-represented cases, and particularly on those who face a lawyer alone, I promised additional more broken down data. These numbers, taken from the same NCSC Landscape of … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Attorney-Client, Court Management, Housing, Legal Aid, Metrics, Non-Lawyer Practice, SRL Statistics | 4 Comments

Integrating the ABA Futures Report and the Justice For All Components

Posted on August 14, 2016 by richardzorza

Its finally here, the ABA Future of Legal Services Report. As expected, it covers a lot of ground, and is a lot to read. As an aid to speedy integration into other projects, I have prepared this table that compares … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, ABA, Access to Counsel, Access to Justice Generally, Alternative Business Structures, Attorney-Client, Bar Associations, Court Fees and Costs, Court Management, Document Assembly, E-filing, Incnetives, Law Schools, Legal Aid, Legal Ethics, LEP, Mediation, Middle Income, Mixed Model, Non-Lawyer Practice, Outcome Measures, Plain Language, Planning, Referral Systems, Research and Evalation, Rules Reform, Self-Help Services, Simplification, Systematic Change, Technology, Transparency, Triage, Unbundling | 2 Comments

Politico Report on Agency Planing for Next Administration Underlines Importance of Laying the Groundwork Now — But We Have to Ask

Posted on August 2, 2016 by richardzorza

An interesting story in Politico reports that Federal agencies are continuing to move forward with regulatory-type initiatives that could only be completed in the next administration, implicitly assuming a Democratic victory. The Obama administration is seemingly so confident of a … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, Court Management, Non-Lawyer Practice, White House | Comments Off on Politico Report on Agency Planing for Next Administration Underlines Importance of Laying the Groundwork Now — But We Have to Ask

David Brooks Brilliant Column on Outsider-Insiders, and its Relevance to Our 100% Access Movement

Posted on June 25, 2016 by richardzorza

David Brooks  had a brilliant column in the New York Times on June 25, 2016.  However, it was marred by a serious error that, while irrelevant to the force of the core idea, means that it is much less likely … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, ABA, Bar Associations, Judicial Ethics, Legal Aid, Legal Ethics, LSC, Non-Lawyer Practice, SRLN, Unbundling | 1 Comment

Social Workers as Nonlawyer Service Providers

Posted on June 7, 2016 by richardzorza

The recent Report from the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission includes, in addition to many achievements and interesting ideas, a fascinating statistic about social workers in nonlawyer roles. The Third Commission, through its Social Services Committee, continued to focus on … Continue reading →

Posted in Access to Justice Boards, Access to Justice Generally, Non-Lawyer Practice, Social Workers | 5 Comments

My Video on Five Ways to Incentivize Bar, Courts, Legal Tech and Nonprofits to Get Us to Access for All

Posted on May 12, 2016 by richardzorza

Here is my second short video, made initially for the SRLN day at the Equal Justice Conference.  This one lays out five ways to use the power and threat of regulation/deregulation, and other incentives such as the tax code, to … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, ABA, Access to Justice Boards, Bar Associations, Budget Issues, De-Regulation, Funding, Incnetives, Legal Aid, LSC, Middle Income, Mixed Model, Non-Lawyer Practice, Planning, Self-Help Services, Simplification, Software Developers, SRLN, Systematic Change, Tax Policy, Technology, video | 1 Comment

ABA Commission Paper on Legal Check-Ups Could Offer Opportunity to Integrate Private Providers Into ATJ Triage Movement

Posted on March 25, 2016 by richardzorza

A few days ago, the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services, fresh from a major step forward in getting House of Delegates approval for their Model Regulatory Objectives, issued for comment a draft Issues Paper Concerning Legal Checkups. … Continue reading →

Posted in ABA, Access to Counsel, Attorney-Client, Bar Associations, De-Regulation, Incnetives, Non-Lawyer Practice, Technology, Triage | 2 Comments

Good News From the ABA — Regulatory Objectives Adopted

Posted on February 9, 2016 by richardzorza

Today on what the American Lawyer (limited-free link here) reports was ultimately a voice vote, the ABA House of Delegates approved the Model Regulatory Objectives proposed in Resolution 105, previously discussed and listed here and here. The full Resolution, as … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, ABA, Attorney-Client, Bar Associations, Non-Lawyer Practice, Systematic Change | 1 Comment

Conference of Chief Justices Recommending its Members Consider “Regulatory Objectives” for Regulation of Lawyers and Nonlawyers Could Help Move the ABA Process Forward

Posted on February 7, 2016 by richardzorza

When I blogged yesterday on “Is The ABA Really Willing for the Headline to be ‘Bar to Public: Drop Dead?‘”, I had not known that the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) had, on Wednesday, passed a resolution on the same … Continue reading →

Posted in 100% Access Strategy and Campaign, ABA, Access to Justice Generally, Attorney-Client, Legal Ethics, Non-Lawyer Practice | 1 Comment

Is The ABA Really Willing for the Headline to be “Bar to Public: Drop Dead?”

Posted on February 6, 2016 by richardzorza

The American Lawyer is reporting (limited free link here) very significant opposition within the ABA to the work of the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services.  As the article explains: [The Commission’s Resolution 105 merely] asks the ABA … Continue reading →

Posted in ABA, Access to Counsel, Access to Justice Generally, Bar Associations, Legal Ethics, Non-Lawyer Practice | 3 Comments