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Avoid UPL

By Mark Shapiro

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Published: 10Feb2012
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I am not an attorney, I am a Judgment Broker. This article is my opinion, from my California experiences, and laws are different in every state. If you ever want a strategy to use or legal advice, please contact an attorney.

Even when one is an attorney, it could be unnerving to get charged with a complaint for Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL), by a State Attorney General, a district attorney, or the US Attorney General (and/or one of their deputies). When one aren't a lawyer, that would really be frightening. In California, UPL is not a civil tort, it is a crime.

To practice law without being licensed is a crime, and if caught, is usually energetically penalized.

One glaring instance of UPL would be if you represented yourself as an attorney if you aren't. A few less obvious instances of UPL would be (when one is not an attorney):

1) Representing anyone else on a legal matter or in court, except when working as a court-approved interpreter.

2) Working in any legal manner for anyone else.

3) Providing legal advice to anyone.

4) Representing anyone as a "loan modification specialist".

5) Recovering a judgment for anyone else. When one isn't an attorney or a collection agency, they need to own judgments before the can legally recover them. The proof of ownership is a court-endorsed and notarized assignment of judgment.

The function that judgment recovery specialist perform, is somewhat similar to those who purchase homes, repair them, and later sell them. They're not brokers and real estate agents (unless they're licensed as such). While they may sell their own homes (and must know about real estate law), they may not sell homes for other people.

There are some gray areas in UPL, one example in certain situations, non-attorney advocates may represent parents and children.

In the majority of places in the US, UPL charges originate primarily from outrageous or extreme behavior. Here are a few situations which are rarely considered to be UPL:

1) If, as a mistake, a sheriff, process server, or court, names you as the lawyer on record.

2) If anyone or a judge mistakes you for being a lawyer, E.G., they call you "counselor".

3) If one sends letters or proposed orders to a court.

4) Representing oneself in court.

Anyone may sue you for any reason, including no real reason. Judgment debtors have tried or threatened to sue judgment recovery specialists for recovering a judgment they own.

If the recovery specialist owns a judgment and consistently followed every law, their lawyer or they might file a simple demurrer (a claim that there is not a legal basis for such a lawsuit), and the matter might get quickly dismissed.

Everyone recovering judgments needs to keep UPL in mind. In certain courts, local policies, people, or organizations, consider judgment recovery to be the Unauthorized Practice of Law. If this happens, the correct actions to take include looking up the state laws, asking to speak to a supervisor or the judge, and hiring an attorney to get their advice.

A wrong action to take if this happens, is to communicate "so and so recovers judgments, how come I can't"?

I heard of a enforcer, that a judge tossed from their court, as he was not the original judgment creditor. The enforcer responded by submitted to the court the addresses, names, phone numbers, and web sites for nearly fifty other enforcers working in their state, asking the court "they do it, so why can't I"?

That was the wrong action to take on very many levels; and didn't work any better than saying to a police officer "everyone else was driving as fast as me".

Only a State Attorney General, district attorney, or a US Attorney General's office, could sue for the Unauthorized Practice of Law alone. In civil litigation situations, the Unauthorized Practice of Law is only an "add-on".

When one really messes up and cause real damages, someone might add UPL punitive damages with Business And Professions Code 17200, or Civil Code 3294, when there are causes of action against you already, for breach of contract or negligence.

There can be a few situations when one may allege a UPL charge in civil causes of action to recover damages. Two examples could be for malice, fraud and oppression, as the causes of action with exemplary or punitive damages, as defined in CCP 3294, or the Unfair Practices Act as defined in Business And Professions Code 17000.

If there is not any case law specifically covering a particular issue, you don't want to be a cause for a new case law.

Most judgment enforcers will not need to worry about UPL, as long as they stay careful in their businesses, never to cross any lines into UPL.

Lawyers aren't allowed to share fees their fees with non-lawyers. Lawyers may only pay referral fees to other lawyers. A lawyer may work for a non-lawyers only when the lawyers's services aren't being offered to the public. A non-lawyers can't operate or own a legal firm.

http://www.JudgmentBuy.com - where Debts and judgments quickly get enforced by an expert - matched expertly for free, to your debtor. Mark Shapiro, we pay for leads, and offer the best no obligation free leads for collection agencies, enforcers, and contingency collection lawyers.

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