Unbundled Legal Services

In October 2000, a national conference was held on unbundled legal services. A website, www.unbundledlaw.org, was created by the Maryland Legal Assistance Network as a result of the conference. Unbundled legal services, also called limited scope legal assistance, provide a new model for legal representation for low and moderate income individuals. A client (usually a pro se or self-representing client) hires an attorney to perform specific tasks for the client, but the client remains self-represented in all other aspects of the case.

Unbundled legal services generally fall into the following types of services: legal advice, limited court appearances, drafting documents or pleadings, or assisting in the preparation of documents or pleadings. Typical unbundled services that are performed by an attorney include legal research, negotiating, coaching on strategy, and ghostwriting pleadings, briefs, or other documents.

The national conference recommended a change in ethical rules applicable to attorneys to permit unbundled services in appropriate circumstances. Since the conference in 2000, Colorado, Florida, California, Washington, Wyoming, Maine, and New Mexico have changed their court rules to allow limited representation. The ethical rules applicable to attorneys have also been changed in some states to provide guidelines for limited scope representation. The California Judicial Council adopted a court rule specifically permitting an attorney to provide ghostwriting services in family law cases without disclosing his or her involvement in the case.