Washington Supreme Court approves 10-year entity regulation pilot to expand legal services

The Washington Supreme Court on Dec. 5, 2024, authorized a 10-year pilot that allows entities — including nonprofits, law firms and multidisciplinary organizations — to apply for time-limited exemptions from specific rules governing the practice of law so they may offer certain legal services under court oversight, Craig Schenk said in a webinar presentation.

Schnek, a volunteer on the Washington Supreme Court’s Practice of Law Board, said the pilot is intended to test whether allowing entities to provide legal services under closely monitored exemptions will expand access to civil legal help while preserving consumer protections. “As tools and systems and our wider world evolve, so should the way we practice and our methods, and so should the regulation of legal services,” Schenk said.

Why it matters: Washington, like many states, faces a large unmet need for basic civil legal services. Schenk cited state civil legal needs studies that show roughly 76% of low-income Washington households encounter at least one serious civil legal problem each year, and he cited national figures from the Legal Services Corporation showing that about 92% of low-income Americans’ civil legal needs go unmet annually. He also noted an assessment by the World Justice Project that ranked the United States 107th out of 142 countries for affordable access to civil justice. Those shortfalls, he said, underline the need for innovation in the delivery of legal services.

How the pilot will work: The pilot creates a process by which entities may apply to the court for narrowly defined, time-limited authorizations that exempt them from specific existing rules (including attributes of prohibitions on the unauthorized practice of law) that would otherwise prevent the entity’s model from operating. Applicants must submit a hypothesis for how their model will expand access, designate a compliance officer, accept rigorous oversight, and provide data for evaluation. Schenk described the program as “a 10 year evidence driven experiment to learn what works and what doesn't.” The Supreme Court retains final authority over each application.

Scope and limits: Schenk emphasized that the pilot creates exemptions from select rules but does not remove consumer-protection requirements. Authorizations will be closely monitored and time bound, with participating entities required to report data specified by the court. The pilot is intended to allow experimentation with different business and service-delivery models — including some run by individuals who are not licensed lawyers — while attempting to preserve protections for clients.

Background and governance: The Washington State Bar Association’s Board of Governors and the Practice of Law Board have placed innovation and consumer protection on a strategic agenda in recent years. Schenk said the pilot builds on more than a decade of study of options to broaden legal services, including expanded pro bono efforts, alternative licensure pathways and other innovation models.

Next steps: Schenk encouraged interested organizations and entrepreneurs to learn more and apply; the webinar host’s website contains application links and an email contact for questions. He indicated a second webinar (“Part 2”) will cover operational details of the pilot.

Sources and context: The description and requirements summarized in this article come from Schenk’s webinar remarks and the court order he cited (Dec. 5, 2024). Statistics cited in the presentation were attributed there to Washington civil legal needs studies, the Legal Services Corporation and the World Justice Project.