5.01. Introduction

This topic deals with the thing you will do every day as a lawyer – what you went to law school for – the practice law. As a lawyer, you will have a “license” to do something that no one else is authorized to do. Because only licensed attorneys can “practice law,” defining the scope of the phrase is important.  You would think that, after hundreds of years, we would have a good idea of what it means to practice law, but there are a couple of things that make bright-line rules difficult. First, is the vagueness of the phrase.  It can cover a number of actions that we might not consider to be something that should require a law license to do. Second, technological advances have called into question whether it is really in the best interest of the public that only lawyers are authorized to practice law. For example, Legalzoom.com and other sources for producing legal documents provide “advice” on how to personalize legal forms usually for much less than a lawyer. Does that mean that the companies who supply this technology are illegally practicing law?

It is not just these third parties that call into question the breadth of the definition of law practice. It is very common today for lawyers to have (particularly corporate) clients that have issues that arise in a number of jurisdictions. Can the lawyer provide advice to a client on the law of a jurisdiction where the lawyer is not licensed? If so, how far can a lawyer go without risking discipline? In addition, the lack of legal representation for those with limited means is a continuing theme of the bar.  How do you fill the gap and ensure that everyone has a legal representative?  Perhaps one way to do this is to allow non-lawyers (who are ordinarily less expensive) to engage in certain conduct that has traditionally been considered the practice of law. Think about these questions as we discuss this topic. In addition, think about whether the definition of what it means to engage in unauthorized practice should be narrowed or if exceptions should be made so that non-lawyers can engage in some aspects of the practice of law.