APR 28 Appendix - APR 28, Appendix APR 28 Regulations 1-20Comments for APR 28 Appendix must be received no later than April 30, 2017.
GR 9 COVER SHEET
ADMISSION AND PRACTICE RULES (APR) 28
Washington State Bar Association Robin L. Haynes, President B. Spokesperson: Paula C. Littlewood, Executive Director Jean K. McElroy, General Counsel/Chief Regulatory Counsel C. Purpose: Since its inception in 2012, the Limited License Legal Technician (LLLT) program has operated as a self-contained regulatory system housed at and administered by the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA). The LLLT Board, with administrative support from the Bar, has the authority to oversee and administer all of the regulatory functions of the LLLT program. The primary purposes of the suggested amendments to APR 28 and accompanying regulations are to coordinate and streamline the regulatory structures and administration of lawyer, LLLT, and LPO licenses, to unify the terminology used throughout the APR. As part of this process, many portions of APR 28 and the regulations are no longer necessary or have been consolidated under other rules of the APR. Also, regulatory processes recommended by the LLLT Board and approved by the Supreme Court as the program was being developed were often codified in the Regulations of APR 28, rather than amending the text of the rule itself. Those regulations have now been successfully implemented, and greater clarity can be achieved by deleting the text of those regulations and consolidating information in other sections of the suggested amendments to the APR. In addition, there are suggested substantive amendments to the composition of the LLLT Board that are unrelated to the other suggested amendments to the APR. The major suggested amendments and their intended effects are described below. Non-substantive suggested amendments occur throughout the provisions of this rule and relate primarily to unifying terminology across the suggested amendments to the APR. APR 28 B(2) This suggested amendment adds the word “LLLT” in front of “Board” in the definitions section (and similar suggested amendments are made throughout APR 28) in order to avoid confusion with the many other boards referenced in the APR. Administrative amendments are suggested in APR 28 B(3) and B(9) to add the word lawyer, to clarify which of several types of licenses to practice law is intended in these sections. APR 28 C(1) governs the establishment and membership of the LLLT Board. The LLLT Board believes that the suggested amendments to this section would greatly improve their ability to develop the LLLT program under the supervision of the Court. One of the suggested amendments would increase the number of LLLT Board members from thirteen to fifteen; the goal of the increase is to share the significant workload for LLLT Board members. The suggested amendments also would add a non-voting ex officio member to the LLLT Board who is a representative of the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC); receiving input from this new ex officio member would allow the LLLT Board to receive regular input and maintain an active partnership with the SBCTC. The SBCTC has been consulted and supports this idea. Additional suggested amendments are intended to diversify the LLLT Board by making active LLLTs eligible for up to eleven of the LLLT Board member positions. It also allows up to two positions to be occupied by LPOs, lawyers or LLLTs who hold judicial status, or emeritus pro bono lawyers or LLLTs. Increasing diversity among the types of legal professionals who serve as Board members will broaden the perspective of the LLLT Board. Allowing LLLTs to serve on the LLLT Board is especially crucial; the LLLT Board believes that LLLTs must have a forum to assist in the development of their profession, as lawyers have traditionally had in their own. The suggested amendment regarding the four “nonlawyer” positions has been amended only in regards to the terminology which describes those members; the LLLT Board believes that the intent of the Supreme Court in designating four of the Board appointments for “nonlawyers” was to include the voices of the public rather than to potentially create an entire Board with people licensed to practice law. The suggested amendment striking language regarding the initial appointment of LLLT Board members would reflect that the initial setup of the LLLT Board has already occurred. Finally, an amendment is suggested to clarify that despite the exact makeup of the members of the LLLT Board specified by this rule, the validity of the Board’s actions would not be affected if for some reason there is a temporary vacancy in any of the appointed positions. The suggested amendments would delete language from the current rule assigning some functions to the LLLT Board, because if the suggested amendments to the APR are adopted, those functions will be performed by others (the Bar, other boards or WSBA staff). Current APR 28 C(3) authorizes the LLLT Board to establish various aspects of the LLLT regulatory structure. The LLLT Board has completed its mandate to establish these aspects of the program, and that authorization is no longer necessary. The suggested amendments would delete this language but maintain the LLLT Board’s ability to propose rules, regulations, and amendments to the rule, and to implement any changes to the program. The suggested amendments to APR 28 C(4) would keep language relating to the WSBA’s administration of the program in section C(4) and move the language relating to reimbursement of Board member expenses in a new section C(5). The suggested amendments would delete the language in this rule and reserve the numbering. The majority of these provisions would be moved to amended APR 3 without substantive change if the suggested amendments are adopted. Section (d), regarding educational credit hours would be moved to APR 11. The suggested amendments would delete the language in the section and reserve the numbering. With the exception of section (1), the suggested amendments would move all provisions of APR 28E to amended APR 5 (see GR 9 Coversheet for APR 5) without substantive change. Section (1), regarding the examination would be moved to APR 4. Suggested amendments to APR 28F would unify terminology used throughout the suggested amendments to the APR. LLLTs who plan to work from home and those who live in rural areas where mail is not delivered have expressed concern about the requirement for LLLTs to have a principal place of business having a physical street address. Compliance with the current rule would require that LLLTs who worked from home and did not want to publish their home address or those who cannot receive mail at their home address due to the boundaries of the postal service would have to open an office where they could be served. The suggested amendments resolve this issue by aligning LLLT (and LPO) address and resident agent requirements with those of lawyers under the suggested amendments to APR 13. Suggested amendments to APR 28 I would reflect the reorganization of provisions from regulations under APR 28 or to other APR. Mandatory continuing legal education would be under amended APR 11. Regulation 12 on financial responsibility would be moved to APR 28 I(2). Regulation 11 regarding annual license fees would be moved to APR 28 I(3), and would now include a substantive amendment that the annual license fee would be established by the Board of Governors rather than the LLLT Board, subject to review by the Supreme Court. The administrative processes established for lawyer licenses around annual fees, including deadlines, late fees, apportionment, reductions, etc., would apply to LLLTs; this would allow the Bar to streamline the annual re-licensing process for all license types. Regulation 13 on trust account information would be moved to APR 28 I(4), and this suggested amendment would also add a substantive change by stating that LLLTs could be administratively suspended under APR 17, allowing the Bar to introduce efficiencies in addressing various administrative suspension issues. Consistent with the approach taken in other suggested amendments, and in an effort to discontinue the use of the term “non-lawyer”, this suggested amendment would modify the language of this section. There is no substantive change to the meaning or purpose of this section. The current section L addresses access to LLLT program records. The suggested amendments would clearly state that GR 12.4 applies to LLLT Board records and would eliminate duplicative provisions that would be found in APR 1 and GR 12.4. Generally, APR 28 M and N contain the information regarding transferring to or from inactive status previously found in APR 28 Regulation 16. The procedures for transferring to inactive and active status would be unified across all three license types under the Bar’s Bylaws. APR 28 O echoes the former APR 28 Regulation 17, which addressed voluntary cancellations of licenses. The suggested amendment would change the terminology, due to the fact that the Bar would be unifying its terminology from “cancelling” to “resigning” a license. This section would remain substantially unchanged, except that it would instruct the LLLT wishing to resign their license to notify the WSBA rather than the LLLT Board. The sections addressing resignation under the shadow of a disciplinary proceeding would not change substantially. With the suggested amendments, Regulation 1 would be deleted and the numbering reserved. The requirements currently described in this regulation would be redistributed throughout the APR. There are no substantive changes to Regulation 3, except that some would be moved to APR 3. The provision addressing the number of minutes in each credit hour is currently in APR 28 D, and this suggested amendment would move that provision to this regulation. The only substantive changes in these suggested amendments would be to extend the time for accepting waivers to 2023 and to extend the expiration of the waiver to 2025. This would permit persons who may be waiting for practice areas other than family law to take advantage of the waiver provision. NOTE: The LLLT Board has previously sent a suggested amendment to the Court that would make the same changes to the dates that are described above. The non-substantive changes are not covered by that previously accepted amendment. The suggested amendments would move the content of current Regulation 5 to amended APR 3. The only substantive change to these procedures would be the removal of the requirement that LLLT candidates submit fingerprint cards to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the purposes of a criminal history record check; under the amended APR, the Bar may conduct background checks for LLLT candidates by whatever means are deemed appropriate to the individual applicant, rather than requiring submission of fingerprints to the FBI. This unifies the background check process for LLLTs, LPOs, and lawyer applicants. Rule change language cancelling the FBI fingerprint requirement was approved by the LLLT Board. The suggested amendments would address the Regulation 6 provisions in amended APR 3, and would shift discretion for approving applications to the Bar, in line with its duty to perform all administrative functions related to the LLLT license. The suggested amendments to APR 20-25.6 would unify the procedures for determining character and fitness across the LLLT, LPO, and lawyer license types. Thus, Regulation 7 would not be necessary. The authority to conduct character and fitness investigations and hearings would rest with the Character and Fitness Board, rather than the LLLT Board. There would be no substantial changes to the process itself, which was originally modeled on the lawyer character and fitness procedure. The suggested amendments would move the text of APR 28 Regulation 8 amended to APR 4(e) with no substantive changes. Suggested amendments to APR 28 Regulation 9 would change the time to complete the experience requirement from no more than three years after the exam to forty months after passing the LLLLT practice area examination. The amendment aligns with the time limit for completing the preadmission requirements that would be set forth in amended APR 5. The suggested amendments would move the provisions of Regulation 10 relating to the original admission to practice to amended APR 5 with only minor substantive changes. The remaining provisions and the additional language in the suggested amendments to Regulation 10 would unify and clarify procedures already established for LLLTs who wish to become licensed in more than one practice area, with no substantive changes. The suggested amendments would also add a new section (D) that would relate to LLLTs with licenses for more than one practice area who wish to voluntarily cancel their license to practice in one area only. This information is currently in Regulation 17 section B. The policies, provisions and deadlines related to license fee requirements would be as set forth in the WSBA Bylaws, so the suggested amendments would delete the text of this regulation and reserve the numbering. The suggested amendments would move the financial responsibility requirements to APR 28(I) without substantive changes, and would strike the text and reserve the numbering of this regulation. The suggested amendments would move the trust account information to APR 28(I)4, and strike the text and reserve the numbering of this regulation. The suggested amendments would move information regarding LLLT MCLE compliance to APR 11, and would delete the text of this regulation and reserve the numbering. The suggested amendments would move the administrative suspension provisions to APR 17, and would delete the text and reserve the numbering of this regulation. The suggested amendments would move the rules relating to LLLT inactive status to APR 28 M and N, and would delete the text and reserve the numbering of this regulation. The suggested amendments would move the provisions regarding voluntary resignation (formerly termed “cancellation”) to APR 28 O, and would delete the text and reserve the numbering of this regulation. The suggested amendments would delete the text and reserve the numbering of this regulation, and these provisions would be covered by the suggested amendments to APR 25 and 25.1 and the WSBA Bylaws. The suggested amendments would cover the provisions of Regulation 19 in the suggested amendments to APR 28 C(4), and would delete the text and reserve the numbering of this regulation. D. Supporting Material: http://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/2016APRCoverLetterToCourt.pdf |
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