We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

WHEREAS, There is currently a noted shortage of attorneys available to fill roles in public defense and prosecution in Washington state, as confirmed by Legislative testimony in numerous hearings, constituent appeals, and as widely reported in the press throughout 2024; and

WHEREAS, The shortage of available attorneys is felt in many other areas by low and moderate-income Washingtonians, as confirmed by the Civil Legal Needs Studies from 2003 and 2015, which found that these Washingtonians frequently cannot access or afford legal services; and

WHEREAS, Experience in Washington State proves that a portion of this access problem can be ameliorated safely and with adequate client protections and controls by creation of opportunities for expansion of the authorized practice of law; and

WHEREAS, Beginning in 2012, this Court established a limited license legal technician program in Washington State to authorize certain persons to render limited legal assistance or advice in approved practice areas of law, and saw the first class of limited license legal technician candidates graduate in 2014 with new limited license legal technicians continuing to be eligible for licensure until 2023, provided the candidates had started their educational requirements by June 4, 2020; and

WHEREAS, A study by the Public Welfare Foundation in 2017 found that limited license legal technicians in Washington provide significant help in creating access to justice; and

WHEREAS, Studies by groups such as the Stanford Center on the Legal Profession, Arkansas Law Review, and ABA Standing Committee on Paralegals have written favorable analyses on Washington State's first in the nation limited license legal technician program, noting that it has served as a model inspiring similar programs in states such as Arizona, Minnesota, Oregon, and Utah; and

WHEREAS, In April and June of 2020, the limited license legal technician board submitted reports to the Court describing the successes experienced by the program and requesting its continuance and expansion to the new practice areas of administrative law and eviction and debt assistance; and

WHEREAS, The Court's decision to instead sunset the limited license legal technician program, issued on June 5, 2020, over a vigorous dissent by Justice Madsen, did not anticipate the acuity of the current crisis in legal representation for low and moderate-income Washingtonians;

(1) Reverse the sunset of the limited license legal technician program and reinstate issuance of new licenses to qualified candidates;

(2) Expand the limited license legal technician program within one year to include authorization for a properly trained limited license legal technician to provide assistance to clients at administrative hearings and to provide eviction and debt assistance, consonant with the 2020 recommendations of the limited license legal technician board; and

(3) Form a work group to consider how limited license legal technicians can be used to help meet the needs of individuals charged with offenses in courts of limited jurisdiction, and to instruct that work group to deliver recommendations for expansion of the program into this area within two years.

BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Chief Justice and members of the Washington State Supreme Court.