Washington’s Limited License Legal Technician Rule and Pathway to Expanded Access for Consumers

Authors

Stephen R. Crossland
Paula C. Littlewood

Abstract

Washington’s 2012 adoption of a Limited License Legal Technician (LLLT) rule has been a topic of great interest throughout the United States and elsewhere. This Article is co-written by Steve Crossland, who is the Chair of the Washington Supreme Court’s Limited License Legal Technician Board, which is responsible for implementing the rule, and Paula Littlewood, who is the Executive Director of the Washington State Bar Association, which is the unified bar association charged, inter alia, with lawyer and LLLT regulation. This Article builds on the authors’ previous articles about Washington’s LLLT program by providing previously unpublished information about the LLLT program’s implementation and by offering reflections about the program that are informed by the authors’ five-year involvement with the rule (and multi-year involvement with the concept). This Article should prove useful to those interested in learning more about Washington’s rule and to jurisdictions that are considering whether and how to expand access to legal services to address the vast unmet legal needs and the anticipated shortage of lawyers in the future.

There are rare moments in history when the opportunity and need for systemic change presents itself for an industry. The legal profession and legal education are at such a crossroads, and the question presented for the profession is what path they will take forward.

Recommended Citation

Stephen R. Crossland & Paula C. Littlewood, Washington’s Limited License Legal Technician Rule and Pathway to Expanded Access for Consumers, 122 Dick. L. Rev. 859 (2018).
Available at: https://ideas.dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/dlr/vol122/iss3/5