Most tenants in disputes with their landlords in Oregon are not represented by lawyers. The tenants may not be able to afford a lawyer, not realize how much it could help, or a lawyer may not be available.

The Oregon State Bar is taking public comments on a proposal to consider allowing licensed paralegals to provide some legal services in landlord/tenant disputes and also in family law cases. “These are two of the areas of law with the greatest unmet need for legal assistance in Oregon,” the state bar says.

The Oregon Supreme Court will make the final decision on whether Oregon law allows this. But the state bar would like public input. There is more information and the place to provide public input is here: www.osbar.org/lp.

The numbers of Oregonians who do not have an attorney in family law or landlord/tenant disputes are high. It’s nearly 4 out of 5.

“It’s what we refer to as the ‘justice gap,’ which includes not only the poverty population that legal aid serves (125% of federal poverty guidelines), but also those of modest income who don’t quality for legal aid, but still cannot afford a lawyer,” Kateri Walsh, the communications director for the Oregon State Bar, told us in an email.

The bar’s program would allow licensing of trained paralegals to do that work. Rules and requirements would be created.

In family law cases, for instance, the paralegals could handle dissolutions of marriage, separations or annulments, custody and parenting times, child and spousal support and a bit more. Would it be a better if there was a lawyer involved? Probably. But allowing paralegals to do that work would provide more access to legal advice to more people and at a price more people could afford.

The analogy the state bar uses is to nurse practitioners in medicine. They can’t do everything a doctor can do. They do enable more people to get better care.

What do you think? Should Oregon do it? Once again, the link for more information and to provide your feedback is here, www.osbar.org/lp.