The mission of the Yuma County Bar Association is to serve its members, the legal profession, the judicial system and the public.
YCBA membership is voluntary and is open to both lawyers and non-lawyers. Through its continuing legal education (CLE) programs, social events and Mock Trial Support, YCBA provides a venue for professional growth, networking and public service to Yuma’s diverse legal community.
The YCBA encourages and supports diversity in the legal profession and the judicial system. The YCBA is committed to helping the community and fostering understanding between the community and the legal and judicial system.
If you are unable to afford to pay an attorney there are many resources to assist you in filing and representing yourself, as well as low cost options to obtain legal counsel. To begin representing yourself you can contact the Yuma Superior Court Law Library located in the Yuma County Courthouse, or find self-service forms on the Law Library’s website. Additionally, you can reach out to Community Legal Services, whose website you can find on our resources page. You will find many other services like these located on our resources page.
Attorneys are the broadest category of licensed legal professionals and are able to provide legal advice, represent clients before courts or other tribunals, negotiate on behalf of clients, prepare legal documents, and provide other related services. Attorneys in Arizona are prohibited from practicing without a license. To obtain a license, attorneys complete several years of rigorous post-graduate education, and certain standards of ethics, to sit for a two or three day competency examination, and continue to attend 15 hours of continuing legal education annually and to comply with the Arizona Supreme Court’s Rules of Ethics. Attorneys have an ethical duty to obtain the education and training required to practice in any area in which they serve. They are also subject to discipline for non-compliance established by the Supreme Court and must maintain confidentiality with respect to their clients and the work that they do.
Legal Document Preparers (LDP’) are individuals who do not work under the supervision of an attorney, and are limited to preparing or providing clients with legal documents either for an entity or an individual who is engaging in self representation in any legal matter. ACJA § 7-208. They are also licensed by the Supreme Court, but by law they are prohibited from providing legal advice. They can, however, provide legal information. The Supreme Court does not currently require LDP’s to complete any specific education degree program, but they must attend Supreme Court training for at least 10 hours a year. They are also required to sit for an initial exam which is three hours long which tests their knowledge of legal terminology, their ability to communicate with clients, their ability to understand and complete and either record or file certain legal documents, their ability to gather data, and their understanding of the ethical dilemmas and related issues according to the laws, rules, court orders, and to maintain professional conduct and protection of the public. LDP’s are not bound by the attorney-client privilege. You can find the link to the Directory of Legal Document Preparers on our
resources page.
In 2021, the State of Arizona introduced the Legal Paraprofessional (LP) license which allows people with specific college education and experience to provide legal services in limited practice areas. Like the LDP, an LP must pass an a test on legal terminology, client communication, data gathering, document preparation, the ethical code for LPs, and professional and administrative responsibilities pertaining to the provision of legal services, as identified through a job analysis conducted at the direction of the board. LP’s must also pass a substantive law exam, and must complete certain minimal educational content at the college level, and no less than an associate’s degree. LP’s are able to provide legal advice, represent clients before courts or other tribunals, negotiate on behalf of clients, prepare legal documents, and provide other related services but only within the scope of their particular subject area. They are also subject to discipline for non-compliance established by the Supreme Court and must maintain confidentiality with respect to their clients and the work that they do.
A directory of LP’s will be available on the Supreme Court’s website. The link to the Arizona Supreme Court can be found on our
resources page.