Court Opinion

ID: 9537278
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 07:15:15.531748+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:56:22.006209
License: Public Domain

IRWIN, Justice
(concurring in results).
I recognize that there is cited in the majority opinion numerous decisions of our sister states and that those decisions are cited for the purpose of illustrating what other states have done in reference to the unauthorized practice of law: and I also recognize that the majority opinion may not be construed as meaning that this Court would necessarily follow those decisions. However, since the majority opinion recognizes that whether penalties should be invoked upon the theory that there is being conducted an unauthorized practice of law depends upon the facts and circumstances in each particular case, I am of the view it is unnecessary to discuss those cases which are not necessary in disposing of the issues presented in the instant proceedings.
I concur in the results reached by the majority of my associates that the Judicial Department is vested with the power and authority to control and regulate the practice of law and to prevent the intrusion of unlicensed persons into the practice without regard to whether their acts are “forensic” or “non-forensic”. I also concur in the results reached that defendants should not be prohibited from conducting their activities in the manner in which the record indicates they are conducting their activities.
In the conduct of numerous business activities, some elements of law are involved and the successful operation of those businesses not only require the application *424of legal principles but the completion of documents that may be of some legal consequences. In my opinion, the completion of such documents, which is merely incidental to the overall operation of the business, is not sufficient grounds for the imposition of penalties upon the theory that it constitutes the practice of law by unlicensed practitioners.
Although the majority opinion may not necessarily be bottomed upon the above reasoning, a similar theory is alluded to in the majority opinion.
I am authorized to state that Mr. Vice Chief Justice DAVISON concurs in the views herein expressed.