The Washington State Supreme Court has posted proposed Rules of Professional Conduct for Limited License Legal Technicians (LLLTs) for public comment. The Washington Supreme Court recently authorized LLLTs to practice law in specific areas and within a limited scope of practice authority, and directed the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) LLLT Board to propose several governing regulations for LLLTs, including Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC).*
The proposed LLLT RPC largely resemble the RPC for lawyers in Washington State, which in turn are based on the Model Rules. Several of the proposed LLLT RPC could affect how lawyers in Washington State practice law, including the opportunity for limited non-lawyer ownership of law practices by LLLT partners under proposed RPC 5.9. The cover sheet to these proposed LLLT RPC from the Washington State Bar Association LLLT Board summarizes several of the most challenging or notable issues in these proposed RPC. For more detailed information about the LLLT program in Washington State and its background, see this article.
*Disclosure: I served on the committee of the WSBA LLLT Board that drafted the proposed LLLT RPC, as well as on a committee that has proposed amendments to the lawyer RPC in Washington State to account for the proposed LLLT RPC.