New Hampshire expands the program that allows non-laywers paraprofessionals to provide some legal services

 Long time readers of this blog may remember old posts about how some states have slowly approved regulation to allow “non-lawyer professionals” to provide legal services.  The terminology used to describe the professionals and the types of services varies quite a bit, but the idea is to allow certain trained professionals who are not admitted to the practice of law to provide some services that would otherwise be considered to be exclusively reserved for lawyers.  Obviously, the idea is to provide more (and perhaps less expensive) access to legal representation given that studies have always shown that there is a need for such access.

The success of these programs has also varied, with at least one eventually being abandoned, but that would be the subject of a different conversation.

I am writing today to report that, as of last month, New Hampshire extended such a program for another five years and expanded the “jurisdiction” of the professionals allowed to participate in it to include all state Circuit Courts.  Eligible paralegals under the program may appear in cases related to family law, domestic violence, stalking orders of protection, and landlord-tenant cases.  The new statutory language can be found in the New Hampshire Statutes, Title XXX: Occupations and Professions, Chapter 311 (Attorneys and Counselors), Section 311:2a (Legal Services by Paraprofessionals).  You can find a link to the section here, although as of the time of this post, the section’s language has not been updated with the newly approved statute.  The original statute (as of now) is here.  It is possible that some time soon you will be able to use this same link to see the new language, but as of now this link takes you to the statute that went into effect in 2023.  If you want the new version, look for the language adopted in June 2024.

Thank you very much to Jonathan Teller-Elsberg for the update!

How not to practice law: when caught, try to alter the evidence in your computer

 April 27. 2024

As reported in Above the Law:  Confronted with an ethics investigation zeroing in on a number of different types of conduct that justified discipline, a lawyer in New Hampshire apparently thought he could get out of his troubles by destroying or altering evidence stored in his computer.  He could not; and got disbarred.  

Above the Law has the full story here. 

UPDATE 5/1/2024:  The ABA Journal has the story here.

Colorado Supreme Court approves licensing of paraprofessionals to perform limited legal services -- UPDATED

April 9, 2023

Last month, the Colorado Supreme Court adopted new rules to create a program to license legal paraprofessionals to perform certain limited legal services.  You can read the Supreme Court's full opinion here.  You can also read a press release here.

As you probably know, Arizona, Minnesota, Oregon [also here], and Utah already have similar programs.  California is considering creating one. The first one in the country was created in Washington (state, not DC) but it was abandoned a few years later. 

According to the new rules in Colorado, licensed paraprofessionals will be allowed to complete and file standard pleadings, represent clients in mediation, accompany clients to court proceedings, and respond to a court’s factual questions but will not be allowed to represent clients in oral arguments or to examine witnesses in a hearing.

To obtain a license, the paraprofessional will be required to pass a written licensed legal paraprofessionals exam, submit to a character and fitness review, pass an ethics class, and pass a professional conduct exam. They will also have to complete 1,500 hours of law-related practical experience, including 500 hours of experience in Colorado family law. The rules also provide for a disciplinary process which is similar to the process for Colorado lawyers.

UPDATE 4/10/23:  Thanks to a reader of the blog for letting me know that New Hampshire also has a rule that allows paraprofessionals to provide certain types of legal services under certain circumstances.  You can find the rule here.