This includes problems like evictions, collections, custody, and health care—problems that have the ability to significantly impact individuals, families, and entire communities.
Source: Legal Services Corporation 2022 Justice Gap Study.
Of these cases, 51% were debt collection, 7% were landlord/tenant cases, and 19% were family law cases. This means individuals were making decisions on housing, debt, custody, and more without legal help.
Source: Narrowing the Access-to-Justice Gap by Reimagining Regulation.
Traditionally, the ability to make informed legal decisions has been governed by someone's ability to retain an attorney or spend hours piecing together legal information and rules. There aren't enough Utah attorneys to support all the civil legal needs in Utah, and not everyone has the time or ability to study the law.
That's where we plan to come in.
Working with court data and service providers, identify which areas of law have the biggest access gap. We outline narrow areas of the law that need service interventions.
Training Partners will find low-complexity, high-impact interventions in those areas of law. These will be transformed into training programs designed for nonlawyers.
The Office of Legal Services Innovation reviews and approves innovative legal services models, and oversees them in a data-driven regulatory environment.
By networking with community-based organizations that already serve communities needing legal services, identify potential advocates within their organizations and invite them to participate in training.
Advocates will receive legal education and training from a Training Partner to gain the knowledge and skills needed to provide effective legal services. Unlike attorneys, they receive specialized training in a narrow area of law.
Once trained and certified, Community Justice Advocates begin providing targeted legal services to clients at their organizations. Clients will be able to access social and legal services from an organization and individual they trust.
Community Justice Advocates will be overseen by CJAU. We plan to provide malpractice insurance, review legal services, hold ongoing training, and have attorneys available to Advocates for when tricky cases arise.
We will collect and study data on the effectiveness of each program, and share de-identified data with our Training Partners to inform future curriculum design. We will also report data to the Office of Legal Services Innovation.
In our application to the Office of Legal Services Innovation, we have requested to implement interventions in the areas of medical debt, housing, and domestic violence. These are some of the areas most impacted by the access to justice gap.
If our application is approved, these will be our first areas, but plan to assess additional areas of law for suitability within our framework.
In 2020, the Utah Supreme Court authorized a regulatory sandbox, where organizations with new ideas on how to practice law could apply to be overseen by the Office of Legal Services Innovation (OLSI) and try new service models. One model organizations can use in the sandbox is to use nonlawyers to practice law. This is the model our organization is seeking authorization for.
Once programs are approved by the OLSI and Supreme Court of Utah, they are required to provide data to the OLSI on what services have been provided and any risks clients have encountered as a result of accessing these services. If a model begins presenting risk to client, the OLSI has the ability to suspend or revoke a program's authorization.
Yes!
We understand the skepticism. This is a new model of providing legal services, and lawyers have become synonymous with the legal system. However, this model, commonly called "Community Justice Work," is beginning to gain traction, and has shown overwhelmingly positive results.
There are two organizations in Utah in the sandbox who are already providing legal services using nonlawyers. The first is Timpanogos Legal Center, with their Certified Advocate Partners Program: they train victim advocates to help victims of abuse and stalking in seeking civil protective orders and stalking injunctions. The other program is Holy Cross Ministries, who has trained Medical Debt Legal Advocates who advise clients on their legal rights and defenses when their debt is in collections, a case has been filed, or a judgment has been entered. Clients are satisfied with the services provided by trained nonlawyers, and there have been no complaints regarding either organization's program.
Outside of Utah, the idea of community justice work is beginning to gain traction. The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) at the University of Denver compiles information on various methods of regulatory reform, found here. The following states have community justice workers: Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Montana, and Utah. Additionally, Illinois, Michigan, and Texas are in the process of considering community justice worker programs. Interested in learning more? Read this article from IAALS and Innovation for Justice.
Community justice advocates, under various names, have been used in other countries for decades, including England and Canada.
It depends! Our CJAs will be trained in specific areas of the law, and can’t provide advice outside of those areas. If you have a legal issue in a different area of law, you will need to seek legal advice from an attorney who practices in that area of law. CJAs will not provide in-court representation, meaning that they can’t argue your case in court. CJAs may be able to help you prepare for hearings and may be able to attend court with you.
The Utah Courts have resources for “pro se” parties (people who are representing themselves in court). If you want to have an attorney represent you in Court, you will be responsible for finding the attorney and paying their fees.
