Legal Services Task Force


Report and Recommendations of the Task Force on the Delivery of Legal Services  

 Rule Petition to Restyle and Amend Supreme Court Rule 31, Add New Rule 33.1, and Amend Rules 32, 41, 42 (various Ethical Rules from 1.0 to 5.7), 46-51, 54-58, 60, 75 and 76.

Across the nation, judicial and legal community leaders are examining the delivery of legal services to identify issues and improvements in delivery of legal services either by recognizing certain services can be provided by non-lawyers or by embracing new ways for lawyers to provide services, such as “unbundling” or “limited scope representation.” Therefore, it is timely that Arizona review its rules and codes to identify issues and improvements in the delivery of legal services that would further the Arizona Judiciary’s goal of Promoting Access to Justice. 

The Task Force on Delivery of Legal Services, established by Administrative Order 2018-111 to review the regulation of the delivery of legal services in Arizona, will make recommendations as follows: 

  • Restyle, update, and reorganize Rule 31(d) of the Arizona Rules of Supreme Court to simplify and clarify its provisions
  • Review the Legal Document Preparers program and related Arizona Code of Judicial Administration requirements and, if warranted, recommend revisions to the existing rules and code sections that would improve access to and quality of legal services and information provided by legal document preparers. 
  • Examine and recommend whether other non-lawyers, with specified qualifications, should be allowed to provide limited legal services, including representing individuals in civil proceedings in limited jurisdiction courts, administrative hearings not otherwise allowed by Rule 31(d), and family court matters.
  • Review Supreme Court Rule 42. E.R. 1.2 related to scope of representation and determine if changes to this and other rules would encourage broader use of limited scope representation by individuals needing legal services.
  • Recommend whether rules should be modified to allow for co-ownership by lawyers and non-lawyers in entities providing legal services.

View detailed information about access to legal services by navigating to: https://www.azcourts.gov/accesstolegalservices.