On December 14, 2015, the Utah Supreme Court approved the creation of a new category of legal professionals called “limited paralegal practitioners,” (LPPs) who are authorized to help clients fill out and file documents, but are not allowed to appear in court. Blake Edwards, Coming Soon to Utah: A New Type of Legal Professional, BLOOMBERG BNA (Dec. 16, 2015), https://bol.bna.com/coming-soon-to-utah-a-new-type-of-legal-professional/.
Utah Supreme Court Justice Constandinos “Deno” Himonas, who chaired the Utah task force committee that explored whether LPPs could help Utahns have better access to courts, spent seven months with the committee examining what was successful in other states and common-law jurisdictions. Jessica Miller, A New Kind of Paralegal is Coming to Help Utahns Navigate the Court System, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE (4:09pm, Dec. 14, 2015). LPPs will be required to have either a law degree or an associate’s degree with a paralegal certificate. Id. LPPs will also need to be experienced paralegals and complete additional courses in their desired practice area. Id. The Utah State Bar will oversee licensing and disciplinary concerns for the newly formed program. Id. Now that the Utah Supreme Court has approved creation of LPPs, a committee will be appointed to implement the program and establish what educational requirements will be needed and what the exact limitations will be. Id. Rick Schwermer, the assistant administrator for the Utah State Office of the Courts, said the new profession is “changing the landscape of how [Utah] provide[s] access to legal services,” and although we are at the beginning of eliminating Utah's justice gap, “we’ve done the most difficult part, which is getting everyone to agree that we need to do something and coming up with at least the framework for doing it.” Id.