A NEW VECTOR IN COMPREHENSIVE LAW: WHY PROPERLY REGULATED NON-LAWYER LEGAL DOCUMENT PREPARATION SHOULD BE EMBRACED BY THE LEGAL COMMUNITY

David Enevoldsen

Abstract

The average consumer cannot afford an attorney. Because of that, the legal services market is generally inaccessible to anyone but the wealthy. Non-lawyer legal document preparation is one possible means by which to provide legal services to the indigent. It also offers a way for attorneys to expand their available markets through unbundling services and working with non-lawyer legal document preparers. Historically, however, the legal community has reacted very adversely to legal document preparers. This article discusses the history of non-lawyer legal document preparation and proposes that the legal community both embrace and regulate non-lawyers who prepare legal documents. Further, it describes the common goals between the comprehensive law movement and non-lawyer document preparation and proposes that document preparation be considered an additional vector in the movement.