See the end of the article for information about related products. And because these cases have almost always been decided by lawyer-judges, convictions have been all but certain. Under the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution, a criminal statute is void if it is so vague that people can't know when they are violating it. The Fosters' defense, while logical, was headed uphill. The lawyer-judge who heard the case of Martha Foster came to the same conclusion and dismissed the case against her.
Most states have statutes similar to Florida's.
Only Arizona and Texas do not treat UPL as a criminal offense. In many states, the UPL criminal laws have been challenged because of their vagueness. But then again, maybe not. We may be approaching the time when an appellate court is brave enough and wise enough to rule that the unauthorized practice of law statutes are built on constitutional quicksand. To adapt Lincoln's famous saying, you can fool all of the judges some of the time, and some of the judges all of the time, but you can't fool all of the judges all of the time.