Frequently Asked Questions: California Paraprofessional Program

What is a legal paraprofessional?

A legal paraprofessional is to a lawyer as a nurse practitioner is to a doctor: a legal paraprofessional is a licensed and regulated professional who can provide legal advice and representation within the authorized practice area in which they are licensed, with a designated scope of practice for each practice area. They are different from paralegals because they will be licensed to practice without attorney supervision.

What can a paraprofessional do?

A paraprofessional will be able to provide legal advice and, in some instances, represent parties in court, within the practice area in which they are licensed. They will not be able to represent parties in jury trials. Examples of what they could help consumers do:

• Clear a debt record
• File a name or gender change
• Assist with wage and hour claims and enforcement of judgments
• Assist with unemployment claims
• Assist with denial of public benefits
• File a simple divorce; create custody agreements
• Expunge a criminal record
• Adopt a child
• Resolve a landlord-tenant dispute

The full list, developed based on areas of greatest need, includes:

Why is this new class of licensed legal professionals needed?

Many Californians cannot afford a lawyer when they need one, so people at all income levels go without legal help even when they have a legal problem. It’s called the justice gap: 

• A majority of Californians at all income levels experience at least one legal problem in a given year, yet they received inadequate or no legal help for 85 percent of their reported legal problems.
• Nearly 12 million California adults in households earning enough that they cannot access free legal aid experience at least one civil legal problem in a year.
• A Californian with an annual salary of $75,000 would have to work nearly 10 hours to pay for one hour of legal services, at the average hourly rate of a California attorney: approximately $340 in 2020. For comparison purposes, this salary estimate is close to the median income for California firefighters.
• Many other first responders—those on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic—would have an even greater challenge. For example:
  • A Licensed Vocational Nurse, at median annual income, would have to work nearly 13 hours to afford one hour of legal assistance.
  • An Emergency Medical Technician at median income would have to work more than 18 hours! 

Licensing legal paraprofessionals squarely addresses the cost component of the justice gap. These practitioners would serve the significant unmet civil legal needs of Californians who do not qualify for free civil legal aid.

Shouldn’t we try other solutions first?

Increasing funding to legal aid, increasing the hours attorneys volunteer their services (pro bono), and making it easier to pass the bar exam have all been suggested as ways to close the justice gap. Here’s why those ideas won’t reach scale:

• Increasing legal aid funding:
  • To fully meet the needs of Californians currently eligible for legal aid, the state would need more than 13,000 more legal aid attorneys. 
  • That's more than eight times the current number of State Bar-funded legal aid attorneys!
• Requiring or incentivizing more pro bono hours by California attorneys:
  • To meet the needs of Californians who aren’t eligible for legal aid, every California attorney would have to provide 250 hours of pro bono services.
  • That’s more than six times what current pro bono participation rates show.
• Decreasing the bar exam cut score
  • Lowering the cut score from 1440 to 1390 increased the number of passing applicants by 5 percent, or about 75 more new lawyers annually. 
  • Even lowering the cut score to 1250, the lowest in the country, would yield only about 600 more newly admitted attorneys annually.

What is required for paraprofessional licensing?

To be licensed, a paraprofessional will have to complete stringent educational, practical training, and testing requirements, and receive a favorable moral character determination.

How will they be regulated?

Paraprofessionals will be required to have a $100,000 bond, contribute to a client security fund, and complete 36 hours of continuing legal education, including 28 hours in their practice area, every three years. They will also be required to report about the fees they charge to clients.

How will the public be protected?

Besides the provisions already mentioned, the proposal includes other protection measures:

• Licenses are specific to a practice area.
• Scope of practice is limited—jury trials are excluded, and the proposal details other limitations specific to designated practice areas.
• Disclosures and informed consent are required. Practitioners will need to disclose:
  • That they are not a lawyer
  • Area of practice in which they are licensed and limitations on scope of practice
  • That a client may need to hire a lawyer, if required services are beyond scope of practice
  • That free or low-cost services may be available
  • The nature of services to be provided and a cost estimate
  • Whether they have malpractice insurance, information about surety bond, and how to file a claim
  • The existence of any financial arrangements that the paraprofessional has with others that may be relevant to the services they provide
  • Information about how to file a complaint with the State Bar

The proposal also details a robust discipline system, including:

• Discipline standards that mirror the ethics rules attorneys must follow
• Investigation and charging procedures that parallel the attorney discipline system
• No private discipline—all discipline will be transparent to the public

Won’t consumers get confused?

The proposal details plans for public outreach and education, including direct outreach to vulnerable communities. A vigorous public education campaign will include information about how to verify that someone is licensed, the scope of their license, limits on practice, and how to file a complaint. The education campaign will explain the difference between a licensed paraprofessional, legal document assistant, unlawful detainer assistant, and immigration consultant. Just like consumers understand the difference between a nurse practitioner and a doctor, they will understand the difference between a paraprofessional and a lawyer.

Where is this proposal now?

The State Bar is currently gathering public comment on the proposal. You can read the full report, and you can submit your comments here. Comments are due by January 12, 2022.

What happens next?

After the comment period and any revisions to the program design that result from that process, the State Bar’s Board of Trustees will consider the final proposal in early 2022. Any proposal approved by the Board would then go to the California Supreme Court and the state Legislature for their review and approval.