CBA Record

LEGAL ETHICS

John Levin’s Ethics columns, which are published in each CBA Record, are now in-

dexed and available online. For more, go to http://johnlevin.info/ legalethics/.

BY JOHN LEVIN More on the Future of Our Profession T his year, after a two-year study, the ABA’s Commission on the Future of Legal Services published its the workings of the court system or who go without necessary legal advice.

ETHICS QUESTIONS? The CBA’s Professional Responsibility Commit- tee can help. Submit hypothetical questions to Loretta Wells, CBA Government Affairs Direc- tor, by fax 312/554-2054 or e-mail lwells@ chicagobar.org.

While the findings are fairly precise in describing our existing problems, the Commission’s recommendations, while laudable, are overly general. For example, recommendation 1 states, “The legal pro- fession should support the goal of provid- ing some form of effective assistance for essential civil legal needs to all persons otherwise unable to afford a lawyer.”While it is hard to disagree with this concept, the recommendation does not give much guid- ance on how to meet the goal. Should the profession support on-line legal services or the creation of a class of non-lawyer legal professionals who can provide affordable services to the general public? The report finesses these issues. However, guidance can be found else- where. In a resolution adopted on February 8, 2016, the ABA adopted Model Regula- tory Objectives for the Provision of Legal Services. They are broad. For example, “[t]ransparency regarding the nature and scope of legal services to be provided, the credentials of those who provide them, and the availability of regulatory protec- tions[,]” and “[p]rotection of privileged and confidential information.” However, attached to the Resolution is a report setting out the purpose of the objectives. This report states that the Model Objectives: will be useful to guide the regula- tion of an increasingly wide array of already existing and possible future legal services providers. The legal landscape is changing at an unprec- edented rate…. Given that these services are already being offered to the public, the Model Regulatory Objectives for the Provision of Legal

Report on the Future of Legal Services in the United States . The report summarizes the Commission’s findings and recommenda- tions on how legal services are and will be “delivered and accessed.” It also contains references to the voluminous work done by the Commission in its study. For those who have kept abreast of the changes occurring in the legal profes- sion–including readers of this column or the 2015 publication of the ABA’s The Relevant Lawyer-Reimagining the Future of the Legal Profession , reviewed in the February/March 2016 edition of the CBA Record – the findings and recommenda- tions contain little new. For everyone else, the Report is a wake-up call to where our profession is headed. The thre e ma j or f i nd i ng s a re : A. “Despite sustained efforts to expand the public’s access to legal services, significant unmet needs persist.” B. “Advancements in technology and other innovations continue to change how legal services can be accessed and delivered.” and C. “Public trust and confidence in obtaining justice and in accessing legal services is compromised by bias, discrimination, complexity, and lack of resources.” The findings emphasize that while many lawyers are underemployed, there are a “vast number of unrepresented parties” whose numbers adversely affect

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Save on Lexis, virtual and temporary office space, Alliant Credit Union, client credit card processing, car rentals, UPS, magazine sub- scriptions, legal software and more. Visit www. chicagobar.org/save for more information and links to our discount providers. These programs have been negotiated to offer you savings and special offers as a value-added benefit of your CBAmembership. Make the most of your mem- bership investment and check out these savings! Services will serve as a useful tool for state supreme courts as they consider how to respond to these changes. The Commission’s Findings and Rec- ommendations, the ABA’s adoption of Model Regulatory Objectives, the number of products and services already being offered to the public–these all indicate that market forces are creating providers of legal services who are not licensed attorneys. We all need to recognize this fact and work to ensure that the services provided are of suitable scope and quality.

John Levin is the retired Assis- tant General Counsel of GATX Corporation and a member of the CBARecord Editorial Board.

40 NOVEMBER 2016