Report Title:

Unauthorized Practice of Law; Document Preparation Exception

Description:

Establishes an exception to the unauthorized practice of law for the preparation of legal documents by qualified and registered document preparation professionals.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2012

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to the unauthorized practice of law.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Section 605-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§605-14 Unauthorized practice of law prohibited[.]; exception for registered document preparers. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association, or corporation to engage in or attempt to engage in or to offer to engage in the practice of law, or to do or attempt to do or offer to do any act constituting the practice of law, except and to the extent that the person, firm, or association is licensed or authorized so to do by an appropriate court, agency, or office or by a statute of the State or of the United States. Nothing in sections 605-14 to 605-17 contained shall be construed to prohibit the preparation or use by any party to a transaction of any legal or business form or document used in the transaction.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a person, for compensation, may engage in the business of assisting a party to a legal transaction who is self-represented, with the preparation of legal or business forms and documents, subject to the following requirements:

(1) The person shall have:

(A) Taken and passed the paralegal advanced competency exam to be administered by the Hawaii State Bar Association; and

(B) A minimum of five years experience in the preparation of the type of documents being prepared by the person, and such experience shall have been under the supervision of a licensed attorney who attests thereto in a notarized statement filed with the bar association of which the attorney is a member;

provided that the requirements of this subparagraph shall be waived for a person with ten or more years of professional experience in the preparation of documents;

(2) The person shall be registered as a legal documents preparer with the department of commerce and consumer affairs and the Hawaii State Bar Association;

(3) The person shall complete twelve hours of continuing legal education every two years;

(4) The person shall prepare documents in the physical presence of the party requesting the document preparation;

(5) The person shall prepare documents in contested legal matters only under the sole direction and express supervision of the party requesting the document preparation;

(6) The person shall not provide legal advice, but may provide legal options to the party requesting document preparation. For purposes of this paragraph:

(A) "Legal advice" means information regarding a party's rights under the law or advice regarding the effect of one's actions upon one's legal rights; and

(B) "Legal options" means information regarding available courses of action that enable a party to make informed decisions; and

(7) The person shall not use the professional designation "R.P." (registered paralegal) or "C.D.P." (certified document preparer) unless the person has met the requirements of this subsection.

The department of commerce and consumer affairs, in conjunction with the attorney general, shall regulate the practice of the preparation of legal documents pursuant to this subsection."

SECTION 2. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2005.

INTRODUCED BY:

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