Do non-attorneys handle legal matters in Utah?

Who should be handling your legal matter? Can you hire someone to represent you who isn’t a licensed attorney? Believe it or not, some non-attorneys are offering to handle legal claims in Utah. Let’s start by covering whether non-attorneys may legally handle legal matters.

Are non-attorneys allowed to handle legal matters?

For all matters in the Utah courts, people may represent themselves, or hire an attorney. There are no other options.

For some matters, such as tax and Social Security administrative proceedings and hearings, non-attorneys may represent parties if approved by the agency.

The Utah Supreme Court sets the rules that allows people to practice law in the state. On August 31, 2020, in order to facilitate its stated objective to provide more “access-to-justice”, it passed new rules that make it possible for non-attorneys to provide legal services in Utah, but with strict limitations. The rules adopted are set forth in Revised Standing Order 15 and Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 5.4.

The rule changes do not make it legal for non-attorneys to practice law, but does allow for non-attorneys to gain Supreme Court approval to provide new legal services to the underserved people in Utah by entering into the newly created “regulatory sandbox”, a closely supervised program that monitors the test run of new non-lawyer participation in the legal marketplace.

The Utah Supreme Court established the Office of Legal Services Innovation to oversee and regulate nontraditional legal services providers and the delivery of nontraditional legal services. To this end, the Innovation Office create and oversee a pilot legal program through which non-attorneys may be approved to offer nontraditional legal services to the public through nontraditional providers or traditional providers using novel approaches and means, including options not permitted by the Rules of Professional Conduct and other applicable rules. This pilot program will run for two years.

What legal services will be provided in the sandbox is still unclear. But the door is open for non-attorneys to change the way that legal services are provided in Utah.   

Just because you might be able to hire a non-attorney doesn't mean you should

Why would you hire a non-attorney to handle a personal injury matter when you can hire an attorney on a contingency? Non-attorneys cannot go to court for you. They therefore will never have the ability to maximize your recovery.

In legal matters, it pays to have a proven professional on your team.

Huntsman Injury Law handles claims outside of the "Sandbox"

Don’t hire a non-attorney to handle your legal matter. Mr. Huntsman has personally handled personal injury claims in California and Utah. If you’re dealing with situations like a bike crash, a medical malpractice claim, a slip and fall, or a car accident, you can greatly benefit from working with Mr. Huntsman.

Even if you already have an attorney, give Huntsman Injury Law a call at (888) 728-8112 for a free consultation with no obligation. It never hurts to get a second opinion.