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Happy spring, everyone! As expected, the regulatory innovation space continues to evolve. In Utah, as part of Phase 2 of the Sandbox, the Supreme Court has implemented new rules, including but not limited to a new component to the innovation requirement. Applicants to the Sandbox will need to demonstrate that Sandbox authorization will allow them to reach Utah consumers currently underserved by the legal market. The impact on Utah consumers must be substantial relative to the entity’s overall reach. National and international companies that expect to serve only an incidental number of Utah clients will not qualify. Theses decisions were made based on information gathered during the first four years of operations—and to better promote the Sandbox objectives and align with the Court’s jurisdiction over the practice of law in Utah. These changes have resulted in a decrease in the total number of regulated entities and entities within and outside the Sandbox. On the ABS front, anti-ABS legislation is circulating in California. Also, the Arizona Supreme Court has had a busy few months. In February, the Supreme Court approved KPMG to launch a US law firm. Last month, the Supreme Court adopted the first set of amendments to the ABS regulations (additional amendments are expected later this year) and codified community-based justice work in Arizona. Also in the community-based justice worker space, Innovation for Justice released a Social Economic Impacts and Return on Funding Investment Report of its community legal education initiatives, and Frontline Justice will be hosting a Community Justice Worker Workshop following the ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference in San Francisco in May. Regarding allied legal professionals, there has been both progress and setbacks. In Texas, the state supreme court announced last November that its ALP program, originally expected to go into effect in December, is now on hold while they review the feedback received during the public comment process. Around that same time, the Texas state legislature put forward House Bill 1528, which would create an ALP program with slightly different parameters from the one the state supreme court is reviewing. In North Dakota last October, the Lawyer Licensing Task Force, a creation of the state supreme court in response to House Concurrent Resolution 3023, produced a report advocating for two regulatory reform initiatives to address the justice gap in their state. The first of those programs is an ALP program, and the second is a court navigator program. More recently, in Arizona, the Administrative Office of the Court's Certification and Licensing Division released the Assessing Arizona's Legal Paraprofessionals: 2024 Program Survey, an extensive report detailing the outcomes from surveys created for legal paraprofessionals, their clients, lawyers, and judges. Finally, IAALS is currently conducting community focus groups across the seven states with ALP programs to learn from community members their thoughts on the clarity and effectiveness of each state's title for their ALPs. We plan to use this data, along with other data we will collect down the road, to work with program leaders on coming together on a single title. Finally, please be on the lookout for a few forthcoming resources from IAALS! We have been working with the Duke Center on Law & Tech to create a webinar and workshop series—AI, Access to Justice & UPL: Shaping the Future of Legal Services. Additional information and registration details will be available soon. We also aim to release our Unlocking Legal Regulation: Regulating AI in the Delivery of Legal Services post-convening report and Interim Evaluation of the Utah Sandbox this spring. Stay tuned! Jessica Bednarz IAALS Director of Legal Services and the Profession April 2025 |
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