Law360 (September 17, 2026, 8:09 PM EDT) -- The Michigan Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it is launching a pilot project, based on recent reforms in Utah and Arizona, that will allow trained nonlawyers to provide in-court support to people who cannot afford a lawyer in civil cases.

The Supreme Court issued an administrative order on Sept. 2 authorizing accompaniment services providers to assist clients of agencies that receive funding from or are endorsed as a pilot agency by the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board. Nonprofit agencies and governmental organizations, including mental health providers, housing agencies and shelters, that provide social or legal services to clients who are likely to represent themselves in civil court may also use accompaniment services providers.

"Too many vulnerable Michiganders, especially survivors of domestic violence, don't have meaningful access to our justice system," Supreme Court Justice Brian K. Zahra, chair of the Justice for All Commission, said in a news release Wednesday. "This pilot project provides a trained support person who can go to court with a client for civil cases, provide encouragement, take notes, explain what happened, and identify needed follow-up."

The support person is not authorized to offer legal advice or act as an attorney, but can help a person navigate the unfamiliar and sometimes stressful court system, according to the release. The main objective of the pilot is to help the Justice for All Commission and the courts understand who can be best served by receiving limited assistance by trained personnel who are not attorneys.

In its order, the Michigan Supreme Court noted that the need for affordable legal services in Michigan far exceeds the number of lawyers who are able to offer those services. Although more than one in six Michigan residents qualify for free legal aid, there is only one legal aid attorney available for every 5,401 qualifying individuals. Many residents are in a situation where they don't qualify for free legal aid, but can't afford to hire a lawyer.

In keeping with its goal of ensuring that every Michigan resident has access to justice, the Justice for All Commission recommended this pilot project to see if offering accompaniment services to people who can't afford a lawyer can lead to earlier or more durable resolutions of legal issues, reduce the harm of misinformation or lack of information, and maximize appropriate use of Michigan's self-help resources.

A 2022 Stanford Law School study on legal innovation after reform looked at the high cost of legal representation and the shortage of attorneys offering low-cost legal services as well as how allowing a support person to help a client facing a civil court proceeding could bring the case to a conclusion more efficiently. The study focused on programs introduced in Utah and Arizona that increased access to legal help for people who could not afford a lawyer and was part of the inspiration for Michigan's pilot program. 

Utah and Arizona launched similar reforms in 2020, with Utah implementing a similar pilot program that allowed nontraditional legal service providers to offer legal support under state oversight. Arizona repealed a ban on nonlawyer ownership of law firms and created a new licensed tier of nonlawyers—similar to nurse practitioners in medicine—who can independently give legal advice, draft court documents, negotiate, and represent clients directly in court across such practice areas as family law, housing, civil disputes and administrative law.

Michigan's order does not change any laws regarding unauthorized practice of law.

"This project recognizes that there are alternative pathways to increasing access that have wide support across stakeholders and is more likely to succeed because the proposal takes advantage of our existing access-to-justice infrastructure and regulatory framework," Justice Zahra said.

Accompaniment services providers and pilot agencies can register with the State Court Administrative Office on the Accompaniment Services special initiatives page of the One Court of Justice website.

The Justice for All Commission will submit a data analysis to the Michigan Supreme Court detailing the experiences of trial courts, pilot agencies, accompaniment services providers, and clients with this program along with recommendations regarding the viability of continuing or modifying the program.

--Editing by Linda Voorhis.

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