Opinion ID: 781757
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Unauthorized Practice Finding

Text: 18 Appellants also challenge the sufficiency of the evidence upon which the district court based its finding that they engaged in the unauthorized practice of law. The issue of whether Appellants engaged in the unauthorized practice of law requires us to examine, as a preliminary matter, what constitutes the practice of law. 10 In Illinois, the practice of law includes, at a minimum, representation provided in court proceedings along with any services rendered incident thereto, even if rendered out of court. In re Herrera, 194 B.R. 178 (Bankr.N.D.Ill.1996); People v. Peters, 10 Ill.2d 577, 141 N.E.2d 9 (1957). More generally, providing any advice or other service requiring the use of any legal skill or knowledge, ... the legal effect of which, under the facts and conditions involved, must be carefully determined, amounts to practicing law. Peters, 141 N.E.2d at 11. Only under the direct supervision of a licensed attorney may certain of these functions be performed by a paralegal. Absent the imprimatur of meaningful attorney supervision, any legal advice or other legal service provided by a nonlawyer constitutes the unauthorized practice of law. 19 What the district court found problematic about Appellants' activities was not the performance of those permitted paralegal functions. The preparation of pretrial motions and other services offered by Appellants, including recommendations vis-a-vis litigation strategy, might have been permissible if performed at the request and under the direction of a lawyer. 11 Rather, what troubled Chief Judge Murphy was the reality that Appellants operated without — and, in some cases, in contravention of — attorney oversight. Appellants' promotional literature alone, while not the only evidence upon which the district court relied, is a sufficient evidentiary basis for finding that Appellants' conduct improperly inverted the attorney-client-paralegal dynamic. 12 Once Appellants, through their aggressive marketing techniques, undermined a defendant's confidence in his or her counsel, and then exploited those doubts to make strategic recommendations to — and, in the words of the district court, to foist their services upon — both client and counsel, any appearance of attorney supervision became meaningless. The district court therefore properly determined that Appellants were engaged in the unauthorized practice of law.