Arizona, Utah, Oregon and Colorado license legal paraprofessionals — non-lawyers authorized by a state to give legal advice, prepare documents and, where the license allows it, appear in court within defined practice areas.
Minnesota runs a supervised roster program rather than a license, Washington's Supreme Court decided in 2020 to sunset its LLLT license, and Texas has proposed rules it has not yet put into effect.
Here is what each program allows, and what it takes to qualify.
What is a licensed legal paraprofessional?
A legal paraprofessional is a non-lawyer who holds a state license to provide defined legal services.
What the license covers varies by state, but the pattern is consistent: the holder may give legal advice, prepare and file documents, and — where the license allows it — appear in court, inside the practice areas the license names.
Outside those areas, the license gives no authority.
The licenses are court- and bar-created.
Arizona licenses Legal Paraprofessionals (LPs) under ACJA 7-210.
Utah licenses Licensed Paralegal Practitioners (LPPs) under Rule 4-802 of the Rules Governing the Utah State Bar, a rule the bar describes as creating an exception to the authorization to practice law for LPPs.
Oregon licenses Licensed Paralegals (LPs) under the Oregon Supreme Court's Rules for Licensing Paralegals, and Colorado licenses Licensed Legal Paraprofessionals (LLPs) under Colorado Supreme Court rules approved in March 2023, November 2023 and October 2025.
The best-known framing comes from Arizona: the Arizona Supreme Court compares Legal Paraprofessionals to nurse practitioners in the medical field, and the role was originally proposed under the name "Limited License Legal Practitioner."
Washington's retired license carried a similar name — Limited License Legal Technician (LLLT).
A paraprofessional license is not a certification.
It is a government credential that carves a limited exception to the rules that reserve practicing law for lawyers; voluntary credentials such as the NALA CP or the NFPA RP do none of that.
Whether a paralegal needs a license at all is its own question — our guide to the paralegal license question sorts out certification, registration and where the word "licensed" actually applies.
The default rule these licenses bend is the unauthorized-practice-of-law line, which our guide to legal advice and UPL limits covers in detail.
Programs change — confirm with the state that runs them
Which states have legal paraprofessional programs?
Arizona, Utah, Oregon and Colorado issue an actual paraprofessional license today.
Minnesota runs a supervised roster without a separate license, Washington's LLLT license was sunset in 2020, and Texas's rules remain a proposal.
There is no national license: NFPA — the National Federation of Paralegal Associations — states that no single authority oversees the paralegal profession in the United States, and its regulation page tracks the state programs.
That list is a snapshot too: when we read it, it still left out Colorado's LLP and Washington's LLLT, so treat each state program itself as the authority.
Arizona — Legal Paraprofessional (LP).
Arizona licenses LPs under ACJA 7-210 to give legal advice, sign and file documents, appear in court, and negotiate within their licensed practice areas.
Those areas are family law, limited-jurisdiction civil law, criminal law, state administrative law, juvenile (dependency) law and probate law, and each area requires its own exam.
Licensed LPs become affiliate members of the State Bar of Arizona, which handles complaints against them as it does lawyers.
Arizona also publishes the count: 111 LP licenses had been issued as of December 31, 2025, with the State Bar listing 104 active LPs.
Utah — Licensed Paralegal Practitioner (LPP).
Utah's Rule 4-802 creates an exception to the authorization to practice law for LPPs.
Practice areas are limited to specific family law matters — divorce, custody and support, and protective orders — plus forcible entry and detainer (eviction) and debt collection up to the small-claims limit.
LPPs can represent only natural persons, not corporations; they can complete and file approved forms, advise, negotiate settlements and sit with clients in court.
They may not charge contingency fees, but they can own their own firms, and there is no reciprocal LPP licensing.
Oregon — Licensed Paralegal (LP).
The Oregon Supreme Court gave final approval to its Rules for Licensing Paralegals in July 2022, and licenses began issuing in 2024.
Oregon LPs do limited-scope legal work, including advising and representing clients in settlement, in family law and landlord-tenant matters: divorce, separation, custody and parenting time, child and spousal support, and residential landlord-tenant/eviction (FED) cases.
The exclusions matter too — LPs may not handle most appeals, Family Abuse Prevention Act cases, or commercial and agricultural tenancies.
Colorado — Licensed Legal Paraprofessional (LLP).
Colorado's LLP license is a family-law limited license.
Its scope, set by C.R.C.P.
207.1, covers separation, invalidity and dissolution of marriage or civil union, child support, related remedial contempt, name changes, protective orders, adult gender-designation changes, parental responsibilities and two-party parentage cases.
Colorado LLPs may appear in court for their clients — including examining and cross-examining witnesses and making legal arguments.
Minnesota — a roster, not a license.
Minnesota's Legal Paraprofessional Program grew out of a pilot and became a permanent statewide program on January 1, 2025, under rule amendments the Minnesota Supreme Court adopted on September 16, 2024.
Participants work under a supervising Minnesota lawyer and may give legal advice and, in some case types, appear in court.
Authorized case types under Supervised Practice Rule 12.01 include tenant-side housing disputes, defined family-law matters, expungement, conciliation court, consumer and student-loan debt up to $15,000, petty misdemeanors and some probate matters.
There is no separate license: approved participants are listed on a court roster, and there is no fee to be on it.
Washington — Limited License Legal Technician (LLLT), sunset in 2020.
The Washington Supreme Court decided on June 4, 2020 to sunset the LLLT program, and no new LLLTs are being licensed.
A June 9, 2022 order extended the pre-admission deadline to July 31, 2023; LLLTs already licensed remain so and can still practice in family law, where they advise and assist clients in divorce, child custody and other family law matters.
Texas — proposed, not in effect.
In August 2024 the Supreme Court of Texas preliminarily approved rules (Miscellaneous Docket No. 24-9050) to license legal paraprofessionals in family law, estate planning and probate, and consumer debt — alongside court-access assistants — to serve low-income Texans.
On November 4, 2024 the Court delayed the effective date "pending further order of the Court" (Miscellaneous Docket No. 24-9095), and as of the latest order our research found, the rules have not taken effect.
New Hampshire — court appearances, not a license.
New Hampshire's move is narrower.
Supreme Court Rule 35 governs court appearances by eligible paraprofessionals working under a supervising New Hampshire attorney, in listed matters — domestic violence, divorce and parenting, landlord-tenant and certain stalking-order statutes — and only for clients with household income at or below 300% of the federal poverty guidelines.
Legal paraprofessional requirements by state
Each program writes its own entry requirements — which matters if you hold one license and are thinking about another.
Utah, for one, has no reciprocal LPP licensing.
The table summarizes the paths; the notes below it fill in fees and quirks.
| Program | To qualify | Exams | Ongoing CLE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona LP | Education (for example, an associate degree in paralegal studies, or a degree plus either a paralegal certificate from an ABA-approved program or 24 semester units of legal courses), or 7 years of full-time substantive law-related experience in the past 10 years, per practice area | A core skills test, plus an exam for each practice area | The same Rule 45 CLE lawyers must meet, in licensed areas |
| Utah LPP | The required practice-area education courses, now run by the Utah State Bar | Not confirmed in our research; check with the Utah State Bar | Annual MCLE, filing the same Certificate of Compliance as lawyers |
| Oregon LP | Age 18 or older; an associate's or higher paralegal degree, any bachelor's degree, or an ABA-accredited JD; 1,500 hours of substantive paralegal experience in the prior three years (750 hours in 18 months for JD holders); 20 hours of approved professional education | LP subject-matter exams; upcoming sittings include Landlord-Tenant on October 24, 2026 and Family Law on April 30, 2027 | 40 hours every three years, including 5 ethics hours and 26 hours specific to each licensed practice area |
| Colorado LLP | An education or experience path under C.R.C.P. 207.8, plus recent Colorado family-law experience | A legal ethics class, a family-law exam and a legal-ethics exam from the Office of LLP Admissions | 30 CLE hours per period for actively licensed LLPs under age 72, including 5 professional-responsibility hours |
| Minnesota | A paralegal associate or bachelor's degree; a paralegal certificate plus any degree; a law degree; or a high school diploma plus 5 years of substantive paralegal experience | Not confirmed in our research; check with the Minnesota Supreme Court's program | 10 CLE credits every two years, including 2 ethics, plus a written agreement with a supervising attorney |
Three details worth knowing beyond the table.
First, Oregon's rules include education waivers: 5 years or 7,500 hours of experience, NALA CP, NFPA RP or CRP, or NALS PP credential holders, and military paralegals can substitute for the degree path.
Second, the exam calendars are real constraints — Colorado gives the LLP exam in November, with an April sitting only if one is scheduled, and the timely filing window for November is July 1-31.
Third, Texas's proposed rules would ask for a high school diploma, age 18 or older, and a credential such as TBLS Certified Paralegal, NALA Certified Paralegal, NFPA Registered Paralegal, or an ABA-approved paralegal program — every verb there is conditional, because the rules remain delayed.
Fees differ sharply.
Arizona charges a $300 initial LP application fee, $100 for the core skills test and $150 for each subject-matter test.
Colorado's timely LLP exam application fee is $710 ($910 late), and annual registration runs $190 for the first three years and $395 after that; the approved LLP ethics course is currently offered through Denver Community College.
Utah's education route is in transition
Career prospects for licensed paraprofessionals
For legal staff, these licenses are the route where the work stops being support and starts being practice: your own clients, your own advice, and in Colorado your own examinations of witnesses.
Utah's LPPs can even own their own firms, though they may not charge contingency fees.
Minnesota's participants stay inside a supervising lawyer's structure, so that program reads more like an advanced paralegal role with court time than an independent practice.
Keep size expectations modest.
Arizona, which publishes the numbers, reported 111 LP licenses issued and 104 active as of December 31, 2025; the program pages we read for the other states did not give comparable licensee counts.
The scopes tell you where the work sits: family law appears in Arizona's six areas, Utah's and Colorado's programs and Washington's legacy license, and Minnesota's authorized matters include defined family-law cases, while Utah's forcible-entry-and-detainer work and Oregon's residential landlord-tenant matters add eviction practice.
This is a credential for a specialty practice, not a broad job category.
Treat these programs as opportunities with policy risk.
Washington's Supreme Court decided in 2020 to sunset the LLLT program, and Texas's version has sat delayed since November 2024.
The upside cuts the other way: existing paralegal credentials appear in two of these programs' entry rules — Oregon's education waivers name the NALA CP, NFPA RP or CRP and NALS PP, and Texas's proposed applicant list includes those same credentials.
A paraprofessional license is also a separate role from the paralegal job you may hold now — its own practice areas, exams and rosters, not an add-on to a paralegal position.
Our guide to paralegal requirements covers that baseline, state by state, whether or not your state runs a paraprofessional program.
Career information, not legal advice: paraprofessional licensing rules are state-specific and change. Confirm current requirements with the program that administers them — the Arizona Supreme Court, the Utah State Bar, the Oregon State Bar's Licensed Paralegal program, the Colorado Office of LLP Admissions, the Minnesota Supreme Court or the Washington State Bar Association.