ACCESSIBILITY AND THE AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEM: A CASE FOR PARALEGAL LICENSURE

Authors

  • Ryan McLaughlin College of the Canyons Author

Keywords:

PARALEGALS, PARALEGAL LICENSURE, LICENSED PARALEGALS, LEGAL PARAPROFESSIONALS, ACCESS TO JUSTICE, JUSTICE GAP, PARALEGAL EDUCATION

Abstract

The legal profession has debated how to adequately provide legal services to a large segment of the US population who cannot afford to pay standard legal fees. One solution has been for the profession to provide legal services for free (pro bono) to underserved populations. Another solution has been to for the government to support the provision of free legal services via Legal Aid Agencies. Over the last three decades, a third option has been considered in several states, limited licensing of paralegals to practice law. Washington State was an early adopter of paralegal licensing (Limited Licensed Legal Technician), and Utah (Licensed Paralegal Practitioners) became the second state to license paralegals to practice law in limited areas (Family, Landlord-Tenant, and Debt Collection) and Oregon has an active proposal for paralegal licensing (Licensed Paralegal). The Oregon proposal asserts that licensed paralegals would support the provision of needed legal services in the areas of family law and landlord tenant the way Nurse Practitioners are licensed to provide basic medical services to the public. Others states like California and Illinois are studying whether to license paralegals to practice law in a limited way.

Author Biography

  • Ryan McLaughlin, College of the Canyons

    Ryan McLaughlin is a graduate of the Paralegal Studies program at College of the Canyons (Santa Clarita, California).  After graduation, Mr. McLaughlin worked as a legal assistant for Hunt Ortmann, specializing in construction law. Finding litigation’s adversarial nature somewhat distasteful, he changed direction, becoming a paralegal for entertainment attorney Dani Oliva and assisting international artists with B-1 and P-2 visa petitions. There, his interest in law intersected with his decade-long experience as a musician living and working in Tokyo. Currently, Ryan is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in French at San Jose State University, with plans to study International Law at the Faculté de Droit de l’Université Catholique de Lille thereafter.

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Published

2026-10-18

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2026): Journal of Paralegal Education and Practice

Section

Articles

How to Cite

ACCESSIBILITY AND THE AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEM: A CASE FOR PARALEGAL LICENSURE. (2026). Journal of Paralegal Education and Practice, 2(1). https://ojs.aafpe.org/ojs/index.php/jpep/article/view/40