As the Supreme Court of Texas prepares to finalize rules that would allow licensed legal paraprofessionals and court-access assistants to provide limited legal services for low-income individuals, the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors has approved a series of comments on the preliminary rules for the court’s consideration.
Meeting in Lubbock for their quarterly meeting, State Bar directors voted on September 27 to approve comments prepared by the board’s Administration Committee that seek to amend the court’s preliminary rules issued in August. Under the court’s preliminary rules, the State Bar of Texas would be responsible for regulating licensed legal paraprofessionals and court-access assistants, and the board’s comments were developed with the goals of increasing regulatory efficiency and improving public protection.
Read the court’s order here and the board’s comments here.
The court’s order would allow licensed paraprofessionals to represent low-income individuals facing certain issues in the areas of family law, estate planning and probate law, and consumer debt law, as well as in justice court cases. The rules also would allow licensed court-access assistants sponsored by approved legal assistance organizations to represent low-income individuals in justice court.
The court has invited public comments on the preliminary rules by November 1 via email at rulescomments@txcourts.gov. Texas lawyers, judges, legal organizations, legal aid providers, paralegals, and other interested parties are encouraged to provide their input.