Information for Interested Applicants

Applicants are expected to review the Innovation Office Manual and Standing Order No. 15 (available here).  (Please note that materials are being updated to reflect Phase 2 policy updates.  The LSI Committee votes on policy development recommendations at its monthly meetings.)

Please email innovationoffice@utahbar.org if you have additional questions.   

Authorizations:

• Entities authorized through the Sandbox receive temporary orders from the Utah Supreme Court.  
• Sandbox authorization is limited to the practice of law in Utah.  If your entity proposes to operate outside of Utah, it will need to explain why Sandbox authorization is needed.   

Review Process:

• The Legal Services Innovation (“LSI”) Committee will vote to request additional information, issue a denial, or recommend that the Utah Supreme Court approve your entity’s application.  Authorization is subject to Supreme Court approval.  Following a reconsideration process, denied applicants can appeal to the Supreme Court.  
• The LSI Committee is comprised of volunteers appointed by the Utah Supreme Court and meets monthly.  Please note that the LSI Committee is currently working through a backlog of applications.

Policy Updates:

• The Utah Supreme Court closed the alternative business structure/ABS-only portion of the Sandbox on December 31, 2024.  For Phase 2, the focus of the Sandbox is on Moderate and High Innovation entities, which are models in which alternative legal providers (nonlawyers and/or software) engage in limited scope legal practice.
• You will need to demonstrate that your entity meets the Utah innovation requirement.  This is a high bar. To meet this requirement, your entity must demonstrate that Sandbox authorization will allow it to reach Utah consumers currently underserved by the legal market.  The impact on Utah consumers must be substantial relative to the entity’s overall reach.  National and international companies that expect to serve only an incidental number of Utah clients will not qualify unless they demonstrate a Utah-specific model requiring Sandbox authorization.  A small entity that principally serves Utah consumers will satisfy the Utah nexus even if it reaches a modest number of clients.  
• (NEW) The LSI Committee has clarified that one-stop-shop models must independently qualify as Moderate or High Innovation.

Requirements:

• There are fees associated with participation in the Sandbox, including with the $250 application fee.  Additionally, authorized entities will pay a $5,000 annual fee.
• Your entity must be registered and in good standing with the Utah Department of Commerce.
• You will be required to identify all Controlling Persons and Financing Persons associated with your entity.  Controlling and Financing Persons must complete additional vetting requirements, including background checks and licensing verifications.
• Suspended or disbarred attorneys are prohibited from holding an ownership interest of greater than 10% in any Sandbox entity.  See below for more details regarding the involvement of disbarred attorneys. 
• Lawyers working with or for entities participating in the Sandbox remain subject to the Rules of Professional Conduct. Lawyers licensed in another state or country remain subject to the Rules of Professional Conduct of their state or country of license. 
• Bare referral fee arrangements are no longer allowed.
• Your application may be made publicly available.  Applications of approved entities are posted to the website. You can make a claim of business confidential information and/or trade secrets. Names of Controlling & Financing Persons cannot be redacted.
• Please note that pre-launch assessments for High Innovation entities are currently under development.

For-Profit Immigration Applicants:

• The Utah Supreme Court has discontinued acceptance of applications from for-profit entities solely or primarily offering immigration-related services.  The order is available here.

Regarding Disbarment and Felony Criminal Histories:

• The Legal Services Innovation Committee will not recommend an applicant if there is a disbarred attorney from any state affiliated with the entity either as a Controlling Person, Financing Person, manager, or director of legal services provision (including as the supervising/monitoring attorney of an alternative legal provider (“ALP”), or provider of legal services.
• Information provided regarding criminal histories will be evaluated for risk of consumer harm, with emphasis on the recency and type of crime.
• Further, the LSI Committee will no longer recommend entities for authorization in the Sandbox if there is an individual with a state or federal felony criminal record showing a conviction (including guilty plea, nolo contendere, plea in abeyance, no contest or receipt of a deferred adjudication) within the past 15 years of the following crimes who will own more than 10% of the entity or direct or manage the provision of legal services (including as the supervising / monitoring attorney of an ALP):
  o Fraud (against government, organization, or individual) – including but not
  limited to mail fraud, bribery, misappropriation of funds, public assistance fraud,
  unemployment insurance fraud, etc.)
  o Identity Fraud or Theft
  o Embezzlement
  o Forgery
  o Perjury or lying to government officials
  o Conducting a pyramid scheme
• The LSI Committee will use its discretion when assessing other types of criminal records or the above crimes committed over 15 years ago and notes that serious crimes such as criminal homicide and sexual abuse committed by proposed owners, managers, or providers will require significant evidence of rehabilitation to merit a recommendation of authorization for the affiliated entity
• Individuals with felony convictions that are not categorically prohibited from participation in the Sandbox may apply if they meet all of the following criteria:
  1. They have completed all terms of their sentence, including probation, parole,
  and incarceration.
  2. They have no pending criminal proceedings.
  3. They have fully satisfied all court-ordered obligations, including fines,
  interest, and restitution.
  4. At least two years have passed since their release from incarceration.