Businesses and nonprofits seeking to provide legal services in the state without employing licensed lawyers can now apply for state authorization for their operations. 

The application portal for the state’s Entity Regulation Pilot Project opened Oct. 21, according to a release. Approved by the Washington Supreme Court late last year, advocates called the launch of the pilot program a historic moment as the state looks to expand access to legal services while protecting consumers. 

“This is an opportunity for anyone with an innovative business idea to do good by doing well,” said Terra Nevitt, executive director of the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA), in a statement. “We have not made a meaningful dent in the access-to-justice gap despite decades of our best efforts and intentions. The Entity Regulation Pilot Project allows us to explore legal service models never before possible that could amplify legal access and reach.” 

The state has struggled with a chronic shortage of lawyers for years. That shortage is increasingly visible at the criminal court level, as public defense offices struggle to keep caseloads manageable, and county governments face rising costs to ensure the indigent population has representation. 

The pilot is being managed by WSBA and the state’s Practice of Law Board. It is authorized for 10 years, and the court will evaluate the accumulated data to decide whether to make permanent regulatory changes. 

Advocates said the new approach could help with everything from using AI applications to help those pursue having their medical debt reduced or waived or social services-focused entities provide legal services when it comes to housing and eviction issues. 

Tri-Cities-based attorneys expressed mixed impressions when the pilot program was announced. While new technology tools are helping people better understand their rights and what steps to take in some legal matters, not having legal services connected to a trained and licensed attorney opens the door to a lack of accountability or consumers being taken advantage of. 

“To me, this has an appearance that it’s about money, about creating a new industry for a corporate entity to make money,” Matthew Purcell of Purcell Family Law in Kennewick told the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business earlier this year. “It has the feeling of us just taking and replacing people with technology, which to me should always be a cautionary approach.”