By Sara Merken
Sept 18 (Reuters) - A plan to relax rules on who can deliver legal services in Washington State got mixed reactions in newly disclosed public comments, with critics warning it could erode ethical safeguards and supporters welcoming its goal of expanding access to justice.
The pilot initiative would allow approved companies and organizations other than law firms to practice law using non-traditional business models and technology, bending existing legal practice rules for a test period.
Washington and other states generally allow only lawyers to practice law, own law firms and share legal fees. Arizona and Utah have spearheaded their own initiatives to ease such rules, while efforts in states such as California and Florida have stalled or failed in recent years.
Washington's program, proposed by the state Supreme Court's practice of law board and the state bar association, would allow the approved providers to deliver legal services for two years or more and collect data from participants to help assess whether to adopt permanent regulatory changes.
In public comments posted on the Washington bar's website on Monday, supporters of the proposal, including attorneys, legal aid groups and other organizations, said it offered an opportunity to increase the affordability and accessibility of legal services.
Some lawyers in the state and other critics of the proposal said it would compromise the quality of legal advice and questioned whether companies that participate would prioritize profits over client interests.
Among the roughly three dozen total comments received, several groups also recommended changes to the draft plan.
The bar association and law practice board have said they plan to send the pilot plan to the Washington Supreme Court by the end of the month.
Utah created a pilot program in 2020 that authorized some entities to offer legal services under eased rules with oversight.
In a more permanent move the same year, Arizona scrapped a rule that barred non-lawyer ownership of law firms, allowing lawyers and non-lawyers to co-own businesses that provide legal services through an alternative business structure arrangement.
The regulatory changes have been driven in part by evolving technologies, which some say can be used to deliver lower-cost legal services to people in need. Participants in Utah's regulatory sandbox include online legal services provider Rocket Lawyer and companies providing software to help with immigration services, real estate transactions and personal injury claims.
"Whether we like it or not, the practice of law is changing, and our approach to regulation has not really meaningfully changed in, I don't know, the last century," said Terra Nevitt, executive director of the Washington State Bar Association.
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