Scott Greenfield on the latest from the NY Times on the ABA.

I also find his idea for a legal practitioner (like a nurse practitioner) interesting:

The function of these Legal Practitioners would be to provide representation to member of the public in non-litigation aspects of the law, such as wills, contracts, uncontested divorces, real estate closings.  The most critical function would be to distinguish between those legal functions they are fully capable of performing and those that require an attorney.

The most important aspect of this new position is that it would entitle the practitioner to function independent of lawyers.  While they could operate within the law firm structure, they would be trained and authorized to practice as a stand alone professional, to hang out a shingle of their own