Kathy Osborn Comments on Indiana Supreme Courts Efforts to Address Hoosier Lawyer Shortage With Indiana Lawyer
Business litigation partner and antitrust team co-leader Kathy Osborn, who serves on Indiana Supreme Court Commission on Indiana’s Legal Future, provided an update to the Indiana Lawyer on recent recommendations to help address Indiana’s lawyer shortage.
The Commission, which is comprised of state legislators, judges and attorneys, recommended the creation of a “regulatory sandbox” pilot program, which would let the state test approaches that could lead to non-attorneys being licensed to perform certain specialized legal services, according to the publication. Osborn noted that often, many Hoosiers go without legal representation because of the lawyer shortage, barring many individuals from achieving economic independence. Osborn said that the Commission looked to other states with similar pilot programs, such as Utah and Arizona, to examine how Indiana can cut red-tape for attorney licensure.
“I think it’s true that all of them developed because they had a similar problem to what Indiana is facing,” Osborn said, “and that is not enough attorneys in the state to represent people in the courts, particularly when we look at low-income folks or middle-income folks, many of who don’t have access to the pro bono services we have.”