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as if Sarah Martinson | July 8, 2022, 3:30 PM EDT
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Over the past 10 years, more than 100 legal technology companies have been established, and a handful of governments have taken steps to expand the legal system by providing legal assistance to millions of Americans who cannot afford a lawyer.
According to the Legal Services Corporation In the 2022 Justice Gap Survey, 92 percent of low-income Americans have insufficient legal support for their significant civil legal problems and the cost of legal aid is a barrier.
One way to reduce the cost of legal aid is to open the legal system to people who are not legal. However, according to the American Bar Association for Innovation Legislative Surveillance Research Center, Utah and Minnesota are the only states that allow non-attorneys to give limited legal advice in regulatory reform programs.
In a recent interview with Low 360 Pulse, Stanford Lawse, a Stanford Law School professor and a member of the California Bar “Closing the Justice Gap Working Group,” state bars and regulators are slow to implement regulatory improvements due to awareness and protection.
David Engstrom
Stanford Law School
“Welcome to the new suppliers [legal] “The system threatens the last line of lawyers,” he said.
A.D. In August 2020, during the CVD-19 epidemic, Utah oversaw the creation of law enforcement in the state. The sandbox allows legal entities to practice what is normally not allowed under state law. These include law firms owned by non-lawyers, companies that hire a lawyer to provide legal advice, and technology counseling platforms.
Meanwhile, Minnesota has launched a statewide two-year pilot program in March 2021 that will allow qualified lawyers to represent clients and advise on housing and family court matters under the supervision of a state-licensed attorney.
In the Southwest, Arizona has taken a different approach to allowing legal entities, such as non-attorneys, to change their legal regulations and practice in the state. Utah allows these entities to participate in the superintendent’s sandbox.
The states that are considering similar regulatory reforms to close the justice gap in the U.S. include California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, Indiana, Connecticut, and New York, according to the Law Enforcement Survey.
Eustrom said the legal industry is at a critical juncture, as states consider opening up legal services to innovation and technology.
“The question is, will all of these come together in the near future and at the government level to help alleviate and address some of these terrible access threats,” he said.
According to Law360 Pulse, start-up founders and CEOs, many justice technology companies are not waiting for a regulatory overhaul to close the gap in access to justice in the United States.
The Justice Tech for All: How Technology Can Ethically Disrupt US Justice System, published in Village Capital and the newspaper, in 2022, has seen the growth of the justice technology market grow from just the beginning.
According to the report, over the past 10 years, investors have invested nearly $ 80 million in startups for more than 100 early justice technologies.
Recognizing the advancement of the justice technology sector, the Justice Technology Association was established in December by the four executives of the Justice Technology Initiative.
Camille Lopez, assistant attorney and chief executive officer of the Small Claims Court, and CETA’s founding attorney, Camilla Lopez, said the rules everywhere could prevent companies from moving quickly, but not legal ones. Stopping entrepreneurship in general.
If innovation was being banned, justice technology companies would not be able to rise.
Camilla Lopez
People writer
“If innovation was being banned, justice technology companies would not have emerged,” Lopez said.
According to novice founders and CEOs, it is difficult to navigate the legal framework when trying to set up a justice technology company.
He also said that the founders of justice technology often have to restrict their services so as not to violate state laws that oppose unauthorized legal practice.
Erin Levine, the founder and CEO of Hello Forum Divorce and JTA founder, said she would like to hire lawyers who work for her organization and provide legal advice to consumers, but this is prohibited in most states. Peace Divorce is a member of the Utah Sandbox Program.
Hello Divorce offers consumers in California, Colorado, New York, Texas and Utah $ 99 to $ 3,600, according to the website. The company’s basic plan allows consumers to use their software to get all the documents needed for a divorce, and consumers can pay extra to get a lawyer.
Levine said, “Lawyers working directly with consumers do not work for a divorce… and they do not think it is fair for those lawyers because they do not have the opportunity to acquire or accumulate ownership interest in the divorce.”
As the justice technology sector grows, if states do not improve their own control, Upsolve Inc., a nonprofit consumer, will do the same as New York. You may be forced to change at the beginning of the dispute.
In January, Apollov sued New York Attorney General Leticia James in federal court. Competitive The state’s ban is unconstitutional free legal advice from people outside the law.
New York Federal Court Given In May, Upsolve allowed legal advice to low-income borrowers, without prosecuting them for practicing the law without a lawsuit, deciding that the company’s activities were first amended.
According to Sonja Ibron, co-founder and CEO of Courtroom5, a member of the ProC Advocates Forum, and a member of JTA’s founding team, the Upsolve case ensures that regulatory reforms are not being implemented quickly for legal technology companies.
“If the states were to move quickly, they would have accepted the first amendment that was already in use,” Ibron said.
Upsolve declined to be interviewed for this story.
– Correction by Emily Cochlear
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