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The Unauthorized Practice Of Law: A Bottomless Ethics Pothole
I've lived my entire life in the Northeast where, every winter, the bottomless pothole reigns supreme. For residents of more temperate climates, the bottomless pothole is the one that's filled to the brim with slush and water. When an unsuspecting motorist drives through a puddle, the bottomless pothole is the rare but debilitating cause of serious damage to one's automobile. It causes flat tires and broken axles, especially when encountered at high rates of speed.
The unauthorized practice of law (UPL) issue is the modern law firm's ultimate bottomless ethics pothole. In today's world, common sense would seem to dictate that a Maryland lawyer could close a complex commercial transaction for a Maryland client in foreign jurisdictions like Florida or New York. The fact that more than a few states would disagree with this proposition is what makes the UPL issue the bottomless pothole that it is.
Unfortunately, there are no UPL or ethics rules of nationwide applicability. Compounding the fact that each state has its own licensing structures and rules, each jurisdiction has its own interpretations of the relevant principles ' even when the language of the rules may be the same in a number of states. Some states are simply more protective of local attorneys than others, and some jurisdictions interpret their rules as though America was still an agrarian society in which it took days to travel from New York City to Washington, DC, and a five-lawyer firm was considered huge.
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