Conference Background and Agenda
California
- The California Judicial Council has recently adopted a rule of court [(Rule 5.70) that specifically allows an attorney providing ghostwriting services in family law to NOT disclose his or her involvement.] This is based on a report by the California State Bar including focus groups with attorneys that indicated that they would be less likely to provide limited scope representation if they had to disclose their involvement. Bonnie Hough, Supervising Attorney for the Equal Access Project, notes that "This is not really a change in practice in California, but it helps to clarify that it is not improper. Judges report that they can generally tell when a litigant has received some assistance from an attorney (pleadings tend to be more comprehensible, legible and pertinent to the legal issue being raised) and they want to encourage that. The judges on the committees that considered this did not suggest that they had been defrauded. They are curious about who provided some assistance, but determined that it was more important to encourage people to get help."
- Final "Unbundled" Forms and Court Rules approved by the California Judicial Counsel effective July 1, 2003 (forms in pdf).
- Form FL-950 - Notice of Limited Scope Representation
- Form FL-955 - Application to be Relieved as Counsel Upon Completion of Limited Scope Representation
- Form FL-956 - Objection to Application to be Relieved as Counsel Upon Completion of Limited Scope Representation
- Form FL-958 - Order on Application to be Relieved as Counsel Upon Completion of Limited Scope Representation
- Rules 5.70 and 5.71 of the California Rules of Court are adopted, effective July 1, 2003. These rules allow attorneys greater freedom to "ghostwrite" documents.
- Report on Limited Scope Legal Assistance with Recommendations for California
- Approved by the Judicial Council on April 15, 2003.
- Released in October 2001 by the Limited Representation Committee of the California Commission on Access to Justice.
- Recommendations approved in July 2001 by the Board of Governors of the California State Bar.
- Appendix for the Report on Limited Scope Legal Assistance with Recommendations for California
- Approved by the Judicial Council on April 15, 2003.
- Released in October 2001 by the Limited Representation Committee of the California Commission on Access to Justice.
- Recommendations approved in July 2001 by the Board of Governors of the California State Bar.
- The Limited Representation Lawyer Referral Service Panel of the Contra Costa County community.
- Twenty Things that Judicial Officers Can Do To Encourage Attorneys to Provide Limited Scope Representation (and how to get attorneys to draft more intelligible declarations and enforceable orders for self represented litigants) - Created by the CA Administrative Office of the Courts, Judicial Council of California
- A 1999 LA County Bar Association Ethics opinion on lawyer's duties when preparing pleadings or negotiating a settlement for a pro pre litigant.
- Los Angeles County Bar Association Ethics opinion from 1995 on limited representation and pro per litigants.
Also see a program profile for this state.