HB 663 - Legal Zoom tries to get a safe toehold in NC
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Shout out to Womble's Scott Schaff for highlighting this bill this week:
Amending the Practice of Law
On Thursday the Senate Judiciary I committee approved a bill that amends Chapter 84-2.1 regarding the practive of law. Chairman Goolsby proposed the new language which creates a safe haven for Legal Zoom and like companies by removing what they do from the definition of the "practice of law".
What happened and how: In 2013, House
Bill 663 - Commodities Producer Protection - was introduced, passed the
House and was referred to the Senate Judiciary I Committee. Until today its
last action was May 20, 2013. Today the contents of the bill were stripped out
and replaced with the language Scott shared below in what is called a “Proposed
Committee Substitute”. The committee room was jammed and there was strong
audience opposition to the bill exactly along the lines Scott
reports. As of tonight, the new Legal Zoom version of the bill has not
been "reported out of the committee" - which means the new version of
the bill is not yet official and cannot be located on the General Assembly’s
website. It also means the bill does not appear on the Senate’s calendar for
Monday night. However, both of these things can happen next Monday
evening if the Senate Leadership wants it.
What is the bill now: The new bill
was summarized as: “The PCS completely rewrites the bill and would
exempt from the statutory definition of “practice law” certain self-help
legal written materials bearing a disclaimer that they are not a substitute for
the advice of an attorney."
What will happen next: We predict
we have a week or so left in this session, and things (and people) are getting
a bit unpredictable and illogical so we checked in with some of the lawyers who
serve in the House Leadership. At this point we haven't found a single one who expects they will
concur with the Senate changes to the bill. Without the House concurrence the
bill cannot be enacted. The season of legislative hostage-taking
is upon us so this may become trade bait and thus is still a danger. We
will keep an eye on it for you.
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