North Carolina Justice for All Project

04/10/2023

Thank you to IAALS, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, for providing a platform to share the North Carolina Justice for All Project (www.ncjfap.org) journey toward improving civil access to justice in North Carolina. If you're interested in learning more about our efforts or how to get involved (or get something started in your state), this is a great place to start.

is a fundamental human right, and it's crucial that we all use our voices to advocate for . You don't have to be a lawyer to make a difference in the legal field - everyone has a role to play in this fight. Remember, all it takes is the heart of an advocate and a commitment to keep moving forward. Together, we can work towards a more just and equitable legal system.

S. M. Kernodle-Hodges
Shawana Almendarez
Yazmeen Gadalla
Morag Black Polaski
Rachel Royal

https://iaals.du.edu/blog/becoming-change-story-north-carolina-justice-all-project

The North Carolina Justice for All Project, created in 2020 to expand access to justice through regulatory reform, is a testament to the power of advocacy ...

03/07/2023

📢 Exciting news! Ever had a legal problem but could not afford a lawyer? Where did you turn?

We're thrilled to announce that we have submitted a legislative proposal to address the access to justice gap in North Carolina, and have garnered support from a long list of policy experts and organizations, including the U.S. Department of Justice.

Our proposal recommends licensing legal practitioners and liberalizing N.C. Gen. Stat. § 84 for legal aid and pro bono service providers.

We invite you to review our website and provide feedback on our proposal. If you support our cause, please share this post and contact your North Carolina Senators and Representatives to voice your support. Let's work together to ensure that all citizens have meaningful access to our civil legal system.

Review our legislative proposal here: https://www.ncjfap.org/2023-legislative-proposal-to-ncga

We examine four policy alternatives to narrow the access to justice gap in North Carolina: (1) licensing legal practitioners (reducing fees for services); (2) liberalizing UPL for legal aid and pro bono services; (3) creating a legal regulatory sandbox; and (4) establishing a court navigator program...

02/20/2023

Access to justice is a fundamental right that should be available to everyone, regardless of their financial means. Unfortunately, the cost of legal representation can often be a significant barrier for those who need it most. That's why initiatives like the North Carolina Justice for All Project (NCJFAP) are so important.

On February 16, 2023, NCJFAP published a petition, policy analysis, and legislative proposal aimed at creating more affordable legal services for those in need. The proposal includes two key policy recommendations that could help close the access to justice gap in North Carolina.

View or listen to the proposal here: https://www.ncjfap.org/2023-legislative-proposal-to-ncga

The first recommendation is to relax the unauthorized practice of law statute for legal aid and pro bono providers. The current statute can make it difficult for these providers to offer their services to those who need them. Relaxing the statute would make it easier for legal aid organizations and pro bono attorneys to help those who can't afford traditional legal services.

The second recommendation is to create a second tier of legal professional known as a legal practitioner. These professionals would be licensed to provide limited legal services at a more affordable price than traditional attorneys. This would allow more people to access legal services.

The NCJFAP's proposal is an important step toward making legal services more affordable and accessible for everyone. The organization is grateful for the support of those who have written letters supporting our proposal. In the coming days, the NCJFAP plans to share some of these letters to show the broad support that the proposal has garnered.

If you want a sneak peek of our supporters, visit: https://www.ncjfap.org/2023-legislative-proposal-to-ncga

01/21/2023

"Getting Utah residents to trust LPPs was not an issue, Torres said. Since the program was started about four years ago, the state bar association has undertaken marketing campaigns and has made announcements on social media to inform the public about the alternative for legal help.
“The real battle was convincing attorneys that they’re not going to lose their livelihood because somebody else is providing services,” Torres said....
“As more programs are being created … more data is being collected and will be able to be shared, showing these professionals are competent. They’re not causing harm,” Houlberg said. “What the data has shown so far is that they’re helping people who wouldn’t have been able to afford an attorney and they’re creating a more efficient court proceeding.”..
“It kind of gets us into the position where we can kind of get some of the gum out of the gears with regard to moving people through the legal system,” Torres said, noting a layperson can have trouble understanding the language and procedures of the legal system. “It’s always positive to get somebody who can translate for you. Typically and historically, paralegals have been the best at it.”"

Utah is one of just four states that allow nonlawyers to obtain limited licenses to provide legal advice and counsel.

01/09/2023

History is said to be made in February as an artificial intelligence bot will advise the defendant for the first time in a court hearing.
As per a report, the world’s first robot lawyer will run on the defendant’s smartphone through an app called ‘DoNotPay’ and listen to court arguments in real time, telling the defendant what to say via earpiece.

The defendant will be represented by artificial intelligence in court for the first time. DoNotPay leverages AI to help defendants against parking tickets

11/16/2022

IAALS has released a landscape report along with an accompanying online Knowledge Center that offer a compilation and comparison of existing programs natio...

10/17/2022

North Carolina Regulatory Reform Update

It has been a little over two years since the State Bar’s Subcommittee Studying Regulatory Change first met on June 4, 2020, to study various types of regulatory reform (e.g., limited licensing, court navigators, regulatory sandbox).

Highlights:

On June 3, 2021, the Bar’s Subcommittee Studying Regulatory Change voted to recommend that the Bar create a separate ad hoc committee to lay out a plan for limited licensing.

On July 15, 2021, the Executive Committee approved an ad hoc committee (https://lnkd.in/eVChSS9Q) to develop a limited licensing plan. We expected that committee to be staffed, but last fall, we were told that certain leaders at the bar were trying to "stack the committee to control the vote," causing some conflict. No action was ever taken on that vote. After that date, the Regulatory Subcommittee continued exploring other initiatives.

On January 7, 2022, Chairman Mark Henriques completed the Subcommittee’s final report (https://lnkd.in/eSuQGyDd) on its work over the past 18 months. The report includes the following recommendations:

Pursue a Limited License for Nonlawyers/Paraprofessionals

Pursue a Regulatory Sandbox

Recommend a Court Navigator’s Program to the Administrative Office of the Courts

Refrain from Pursuing Alternative Admission to the Bar at this Time

Explore Necessary Changes to Permit Alternative Business Structures and Fee Sharing with Nonlawyers

Explore the Possible Liberalization of the Unauthorized Practice of Law Statutes

Pursuant to State Bar meetings held over the summer, after nearly two years of study by the Regulatory Change Subcommittee, the State Bar has created a standing Access to Justice Committee to study further the Regulatory Subcommittee’s recommendations (timestamp: 1:03:54 – 1:06:04) here (https://lnkd.in/eVdRYTFq).

We sent a letter to the State Bar in July to request at least one seat on the new committee. We were told in March 2021 that if we were patient, they would keep us up to date on their internal processes. Instead, we were met with silence. We did not hear back from the State Bar until we followed up again last week when we saw the new Access to Justice Committee was scheduled for a meeting on October 19.

As it turns out, none of the advisory members on the previous Regulatory Change Subcommittee who advocated fiercely for limited licensing and other types of reform were appointed to this committee. However, the primary State Bar officers who oppose limited licensing remain ex-officio of the new standing committee.

Several lawyers in various positions told us the State Bar would create committees to make it look like they plan to accomplish something. One lawyer said they'd drag this out to the 2nd and 3rd generations before they took action. We hope these mentors are wrong.

09/23/2022

By Eric G. Osborne

08/22/2022

Introduced: 2021-11-20 House Introduced 01/05/2022 and referred to Judiciary

Passed: 2022-06-22 House Signed by Governor Sununu

Track Bill: https://legiscan.com/NH/research/HB1343/2022

Following a Public Hearing, a Bill Passed into Law on 6/17/2022, allowing Paralegals to Represent Clients in Court

A public hearing was held on Jan. 26 on the bill that creates a pilot program for non-attorneys to provide representation for people currently underserved in New Hampshire circuit courts.

The new law allows qualified paralegals working under the authority of a licensed attorney to represent clients who earn up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level in family court and landlord-tenant matters.

State Representative Ned Gordon, the prime sponsor of HB 1343, began his testimony by reminding the committee that until the 1980s, “virtually all” litigants in divorce and custody matters were represented by attorneys.

“Now, in our circuit courts, 80 to 90 percent of the people who appear in our family division are unrepresented,” he said, adding that while the Court has established mediation programs and attempted to make the process more understandable and user-friendly, “there is no substitute for legal representation.”

New Hampshire Legal Assistance Executive Director Sarah Mattson Dustin, who also testified at the hearing, said most people involved in Circuit Court civil cases do not have an attorney.

“In most family law cases, both parties represent themselves,” she said. “[And] upwards of 90 percent of tenants facing evictions are going it alone.”

NHLA, a statewide nonprofit law firm that provides free civil legal aid to Granite Staters with low incomes, already utilizes paralegals, or “paralegal advocates” as they are referred to, on numerous cases, including unemployment insurance appeals, DHHS (Medicaid, TANF, Food Stamps) appeals, Social Security (SSDI and SSI) appeals, certain immigration proceedings, and others.

One example of a paralegal currently representing clients outside of court is NHLA’s, Abdoul Fofana, who does work on the Energy and Utility Justice Project. Last winter, his work allowed a man to receive much-needed heating assistance that
http://wix.to/bGPwcQl

08/21/2022

👏👏👏 to NBC News for reporting on this nationwide issue! North Carolina is just one of the states whose residents are experiencing to justice issues. When will our state join the ranks of those that are doing something about it? 🤔 One of the arguments against limited licensing is that there is no data that it actually increases access to justice. The personal stories in this article prove otherwise.

"Jasmine Jones, 49, of Spokane, Washington, said her husband filed for divorce on Valentine’s Day this year, just two months short of their 20th wedding anniversary.

With little money to spend on an attorney, Jones said, she wasn’t sure where to turn. She eventually made contact with a limited license legal technician who guided her through the divorce court proceedings, which were finalized this month.

“I don’t know what I would have done. I didn’t have any savings. There was $20 in my bank account,” said Jones, who is paying off her roughly $2,500 bill in $500 installments.
..

With few low-cost options, about 70% of family court litigants in Utah represent themselves, Torres said.

Although many of the programs are associated with state bars, lawyers and legal providers have been known to clash, with some attorneys claiming they're competing for the same clients. Torres said the pushback smacks of elitism.

“If you look at it from a realistic standpoint, these paralegals aren’t taking clients from attorneys," he said. "They are giving another option to people who would otherwise represent themselves.”"

Programs that train and license "legal technicians" to handle family law matters are seen as a way to close the "justice gap" and make services more affordable.

08/20/2022

Volunteer: https://www.ncjfap.org/volunteer

Have you or someone you know ever faced a life-altering civil legal problem but could not afford a lawyer? Did you find it difficult to know where to turn?

The North Carolina Justice for All Project (www.ncjfap.org) is an advocacy group dedicated to improving access to justice in North Carolina through legal regulatory reform. Our goal is to mitigate the access to justice gap by introducing innovative solutions into the existing market that do not require long-term funding of entitlement programs.

We believe that professionals other than lawyers have or can develop the skills necessary to offer competent services and serve in limited legal areas to help the millions of North Carolinians who cannot afford a lawyer and do not qualify for legal aid when a crisis surfaces.

We have created a proposal for limited licensing, similar to the medical industry's licensing of nurse practitioners and physician assistants. We also support other types of regulatory reform such as a regulatory sandbox, court navigators, and relaxing Rule 5.4 to allow for innovative partnerships with the tech, mental health, and other industries to increase access to justice.

We cannot reach the finish line alone, however. Please consider volunteering with us. We welcome volunteers with and without legal experience. We are all stakeholders in the push for access to justice.

Learn more here: https://www.ncjfap.org/volunteer