Oregon has taken two major steps towards enhancing access to justice in the state, as the Oregon State Bar’s Board of Governors has voted to approve a recommendation to create a paraprofessional licensing program in the state and another to enable individuals to become licensed lawyers without attending law school, by completing a four-year tutelage program.
At its meeting Sept. 27, the OSB’s Board of Governors (BOG) voted to approve the two recommendations. In both cases, the approvals mean that the bar will initiate further actions to develop more-detailed plans and regulations for implementing the recommendations. Ultimately, both programs will require approval by the Oregon Supreme Court before becoming final.
With regard to paraprofessional licensing, the BOG will now appoint an implementation committee to plan for the establishment of the program. With regard to the bar admission program, called Writing for the Bar, the BOG will forward the recommendation to Oregon’s Board of Bar Examiners with a request that it take the steps necessary to establish the program.
Kateri Walsh, the OSB’s public relations manager, told me that the bar plans to act quickly to convene the implementation committee, with initial appointments and timing to be announced as early as next week.
Paraprofessional Licensing
The recommendation for the paraprofessional licensing program (which can be found at page 111 of the BOG’s agenda) stems from a June 2017 report of the OSB Futures Task Force, which called for establishment of a program for licensure of paraprofessionals who would be authorized to provide limited legal services, without attorney supervision, in family law and landlord-tenant matters.
“The most compelling argument for licensing paraprofessionals is that the Bar’s other efforts to close the access-to-justice gap have continued to fall short,” said the Futures Task Force report. “We must broaden the options available for persons seeking to obtain
