Internship

TRANSCRIPT BASED INTERNSHIP OL – LECTURE TWO: WHAT IS THE

UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW

Hi: This is Professor Moya Bansile, and I am your Professor for Project Based Internship

Online. This is Lecture Two: What is the Unauthorized Practice of Law.

In order to understand the unauthorized practice of law, you must first understand what is

the practice of law. As I mentioned in Lecture one, the practice of law, in a nutshell, is:

- Representing Someone in Court

- Representing Someone in an Administrative Agency

- Giving Legal Advice

- Drafting and Executing Legal Documents - Negotiating on Behalf of Someone’s

Legal Rights

- Also, some states make it a crime to engage in the Unauthorized Practice of Law. For

example, in the state of New Jersey, under NJ Criminal statutes, New Jersey Statutes

Annotated: N.J.S.A. 2C:21-22, the unauthorized practice of law is a crime in the third

or fourth degree

Unauthorized Practice of Law Occurs When:

- Non lawyers engage in acts that only lawyers are allowed to do, or when -

Paralegals exceed their authority, as defined by applicable law, or when -

Attorneys practice law while suspended or disbarred.

There Are Two Specific Ways That Paralegals Might Engage in Unauthorized Practice of

Law: By performing unsupervised work, and by performing unauthorized work.

- What is Unsupervised Work?. paralegals and legal assistants may do substantive

legal work only when it is properly supervised, for which the supervising lawyer takes

professional responsibility. Work that is unsupervised occurs when the paralegal is

either working independently, on his or own cases, and is not in direct and immediate

contact with a supervising attorney or attorneys.

- What is Unauthorized Work?, paralegals and legal assistants may not do certain

types of substantive legal work, regardless of whether it is supervised or not.

Unauthorized work is work such as the “Big Three,” and other work reserved for

licensed attorneys, described above.

In your research, you must be able to determine whether a paralegal is engaging, or has engaged,

in the unauthorized practice of law. As a result, remember to look for the three main activities

that paralegals are forbidden from performing, these are called “The Big Three,” which are:

- giving legal advice

- establishing the attorney client relationship, and - establishing fees.

-

PROJECT BASED INTERNSHIP OL – LECTURE TWO: WHAT IS THE

UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW

1. What does it mean to give legal advice? Give Legal Advice: Legal advice is applying

the law to a fact pattern. Even telling a client the type of form to file for an immigration

matter is giving legal advice.

2. What does it mean to establish the Attorney-Client Relationship? The

AttorneyClient Relationship is established when the paralegal states or gives the

impression that the paralegal will take the prospective client’s case.

3. What is establishing a legal fee: A legal fee is the fee that is set for the attorney’s legal

service in representing the client. Establishing a legal fee is when the paralegal states, or

gives the impression, that an agreement on fee arrangements has been made.

The following are some quick tips to know when a paralegal is involved in the unauthorized

practice of law:

- if the paralegal answers a fact-specific question such as “do you think my employer

had the right to fire me?” with a fact specific answer.

- if the paralegal answers a question about legal fees such as “how much will this cost

me?” with a specific price.

- if the paralegal is generous with free legal help to friends and family, such as “can I

ask you something about my lease?”

Paralegals can avoid being engaged in the unauthorized practice of lay by:

- being careful to check your local rules of court on allowable nonlawyer conduct

- being careful that any independent-contracted work is done for an attorney

- being careful when working if your supervisor is out of the office

THIS CONCLUDES LECTURE TWO.