Unauthorized Practice Of Law – California Business & Professions Code 6125
It's illegal to hold yourself out to be a lawyer when you have not been admitted to practice as a lawyer by the State Bar of California. This unauthorized practice of law comes up in many different circumstances.
One scenario could be that an attorney who has been disbarred or suspended by the State Bar of California continues to practice law and gets caught. They will then be arrested and prosecuted for the unauthorized practice of law in one of the Los Angeles courthouses.
Another area that can come into play is if a paralegal or somebody who works for an attorney starts doing things that the attorney should do, like meeting with clients and drafting motions, and does not get the attorney's approval when they do this.
Many of these mill law firms have people who claim they work for the attorney.
They're not lawyers, and the attorney, unfortunately, is not as involved in the practice as they should be, so they're basically allowing someone to practice law who doesn't know what they're doing and has not been specifically trained—this is exactly what the unauthorized practice of law—Business & Professions Law Section 6125—was meant to prevent.
We don't want people out there who are not attorneys, who have not taken the right courses and do not have the experience to represent people, holding themselves out as attorneys and doing so.
It's certainly okay if an attorney has help from a paralegal or other individual who does some of the tasks that need to be done to successfully run a law practice, but they can't practice law. In other words, they can't do the things that make the attorney the attorney.
So, if you're an attorney charged with the crime of unauthorized practice of law, give me a call. Of course, as you know, we'll keep it under the umbrella of the attorney/client privilege and figure out our best strategy moving forward on how to handle the case exactly—not only with the criminal court system but also with the State Bar of California.
Developing the Best Defense Strategy
Also, if you're an employee of an attorney who has gotten caught practicing law without a license, you may have a perfectly good explanation for it.
There may be a defense to it. Perhaps you didn't realize that you were doing something you weren't supposed to do, because you thought that was okay under the circumstances of what you were doing. After all, it was at the direction of a practicing attorney.
It doesn't matter what the scenario is. The way we handle it is: We get you in. We sit down. We talk about it. We break it all down and decide: Is this a case we're going to fight and win in a jury trial, or is this case because of what you did and what evidence they have? Do we need to work out some plea bargain with the prosecutors?
This is decided between you and me, and then I'll put the plan into action to get whatever you and I decide. You obviously will get character letters and do other things that make sense in defense of the case. Then, we will come together and deal with this unauthorized practice of law and get you out of the criminal justice system as fast as possible.
