What is a Legal Paraprofessional?
Arizona created the Licensed Legal Paraprofessional to bring affordable, skilled legal representation to families who need it most. Here is what that means for you, drawn from the current rule.
A credential the Arizona Supreme Court built for the access gap
Most people in Arizona's family courts appear without any representation at all, not because their cases do not matter, but because the price of help is out of reach. In 2020 the Arizona Supreme Court answered that gap by creating a licensed class of legal professionals authorized to provide legal services directly to the public, independently of an attorney, within defined practice areas. That credential is the Licensed Legal Paraprofessional, or LP, governed by Arizona Code of Judicial Administration § 7-210 and effective January 1, 2021.
Think of an LP the way you might think of a nurse practitioner. A nurse practitioner is not a physician, but is a highly trained, independently licensed professional who can diagnose, prescribe, and treat within an authorized scope. The LP plays a similar role in the law: a credentialed, independently licensed professional who can advise, represent, and advocate for clients in defined practice areas, at a more accessible price than a traditional attorney.
What an LP may do
Within the practice areas on their license, and without attorney supervision, a Legal Paraprofessional is authorized to:
- Give legal advice.Specific advice, opinions, and recommendations about your rights, remedies, defenses, options, and strategies.
- Prepare and sign legal documents.Petitions, responses, motions, agreements, and orders, signed by the LP as your representative.
- File and respond to actions.Initiating and answering cases, related motions, discovery, interim and final orders, modifications, and arranging service.
- Appear in court.Hearings, trials, mediation, arbitration, and settlement conferences on your behalf, wherever the forum's rules allow.
- Negotiate for you.Settlement negotiations and communication with the other party or their counsel.
Where LPs practice
Arizona licenses LPs by practice area, and each license lists the areas the LP is endorsed in. The six areas under the current rule are:
- Family law.Domestic relations, including divorce and legal separation, legal decision-making and parenting time, child support, spousal maintenance, paternity, and modification and enforcement, plus protective orders connected to a family matter. Retirement-division orders, the division of formal business entities or commercial property, appeals, and adoption are reserved for LPs who hold additional qualifications.
- Civil.Any civil matter that is or could be before an Arizona justice or municipal court, other than matters in which a licensed attorney is not permitted to appear. Justice courts hear civil cases up to $10,000, exclusive of interest, costs and fees.
- Criminal law.Misdemeanors in justice and municipal courts that carry no possibility of jail, and advocacy for release at an initial appearance.
- Administrative law.Matters before Arizona administrative agencies that allow LP practice, but not appeals of an agency decision beyond filing the notice.
- Juvenile law.Dependency proceedings with specific exceptions, and adoption with additional qualifications.
- Probate law.Wills within limits, beneficiary deeds, powers of attorney and directives, and uncontested probate administration, guardianships and conservatorships with exclusions. Added to the rule in October 2025.
How LPs qualify
Becoming an Arizona Licensed Legal Paraprofessional is neither quick nor simple. The Arizona Supreme Court requires all of the following:
- Education or experience.A qualifying path such as a legal master's degree from an ABA-accredited law school, a bachelor's degree in law, a paralegal degree or certificate with specified coursework, a Juris Doctor, or seven years of full-time substantive legal experience, each with the required credits in the practice area, civil procedure, evidence, legal research and writing, and professional responsibility.
- Supervised experience.Experiential learning that includes advocacy, and a year of substantive law-related work under a lawyer or LP for most paths.
- Examinations.A core skills examination covering substantive law, client communication, document preparation and the ethical code, plus a subject-matter examination in each practice area the applicant seeks.
- Character and fitness.A review of honesty, trustworthiness, diligence, respect for the law and for the ethical codes governing attorneys, including fingerprinting.
- Ongoing obligations.A professionalism course within a year of licensure and continuing legal education under Rule 45, related to the licensed practice area.
LPs are licensed by, regulated by, and answerable to the Arizona Supreme Court, the same body that licenses attorneys, and are members of the State Bar of Arizona.
Held to the same standards
An LP is bound by Rule 42, the Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct, with "legal paraprofessional" read in place of "lawyer," by the professionalism duties of Rule 41, by the trust account rules of Rule 43, and by the insurance disclosure rule that applies to attorneys. Complaints and discipline run through the State Bar of Arizona. The point of the license is the same professional accountability at a price built for the families the system has been leaving behind.
LPs, attorneys, and document preparers
The three credentials are easy to confuse, and each serves a distinct role.
- AttorneysAttorneys hold a Juris Doctor degree, have passed the bar examination, and are licensed to practice law without scope restrictions. They handle the most complex matters and can practice in any area for which they are competent, typically at higher hourly rates and with larger retainers.
- Licensed Legal ParaprofessionalsLPs are independently licensed by the Arizona Supreme Court to provide legal services in defined practice areas. They give legal advice, represent clients in court, and negotiate on a client's behalf, only within their authorized scope, and generally at lower rates than attorneys.
- Certified Legal Document PreparersCLDPs are also certified by the Arizona Supreme Court, with a narrower authority. A CLDP prepares legal documents at a client's direction and may provide general legal information, but may not give legal advice, recommend a course of action, or represent a client in court.
Why it matters
The right credential depends on what you need. If you need documents you already understand prepared correctly, a CLDP is enough. If you need legal advice, strategy, and representation in a contested matter within LP scope, an LP fits. If your matter is highly complex or falls outside LP scope, an attorney is required. Sammijo Johnson holds both the LP and the CLDP credentials, and each powers its own business: Entitled Family & Civil Law provides legal advice, limited scope services, and representation under the LP credential, and Entitled Document Services prepares documents outside LP practice areas under the CLDP credential.
The right credential depends on what you need. If you need documents you already understand prepared correctly, a CLDP is enough. If you need legal advice, strategy, and representation in a contested matter within LP scope, an LP fits. If your matter is highly complex or falls outside LP scope, an attorney is required. Sammijo Johnson holds the CLDP credential today and has passed the LP examinations; once the LP license issues, each credential will power its own business: Entitled Family & Civil Law for legal advice, limited scope services, and representation, and Entitled Document Services for documents outside LP practice areas.
Why choose an LP
- Cost.LP services typically cost far less than equivalent attorney services. For a family facing divorce or a parenting dispute, that difference is often the difference between having representation and going without.
- Focused practice.Because LPs are licensed in specific areas, they build deep familiarity with the courts, procedures, and judges in those areas.
- Direct access.LP firms are small. You work with the licensed professional handling your matter, with no intake teams or junior staff between you.
- Built for access.The credential was created to expand access to justice, and the firms built on it tend to reflect that mission.
Is an LP right for your matter?
The scope checker on the home page will tell you in three taps, and a consultation will tell you what your options look like.
The scope checker on the home page will tell you in three taps. The firm opens to clients upon licensure.
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Need documents prepared today?
Choose a 60-minute strategy consultation or a 30-minute advice session and pick a time on the calendar. The fee is invoiced by email, and the time is held once it is paid.
Entitled Document Services prepares Arizona court documents right now, with published flat fees and service in English and Spanish.