Forty-eight of North Carolina's 100 counties are classified as legal deserts, and a commission established by the state's supreme court will aim to address this dearth of attorneys at a meeting Friday, the
North Carolina Judicial Branch said.
According to a statement, the Commission on Practice Innovation was created "to evaluate expansion of legal services" in these 48 counties — areas with fewer than one attorney per 1,000 residents.
"The Commission will examine licensure models from other jurisdictions, evaluate the regulatory framework for paralegals and paraprofessionals, and assess how alternative approaches could address unmet legal needs while protecting the public," the statement said.
The group aims to provide suggestions to the legal community regarding potential regulatory changes that might make legal assistance more attainable, the news release said.
North Carolina Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Anita Earls, who will co-chair the commission, said in a statement that she was "grateful to the stakeholders who are willing to work with us on this vitally important effort to improve access to justice."
North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Phil Berger Jr., who will serve as co-chair, agreed with Earls.
"North Carolina has an opportunity to join states across the country that are re-thinking how we train and license legal professionals. The old models were built for a different era, and I look forward to exploring how we can open more doors to the legal profession without compromising the quality of services," he said in a statement.
The 16 commission members include judges from various levels of state court, attorneys, law school representatives and at least one paralegal.
The inaugural commission meeting will take place at the
North Carolina State Bar headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, in conjunction with the North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Commission. A primary function of the NCEAJ Commission, which was established in 2005 by the Supreme Court of North Carolina, is to convene stakeholders to increase access to justice, according to its website.
--Editing by Michael Watanabe.