Crossing The Unauthorized Practice Line

A disbarred attorney may appear pro se but not represent others, according to an order enjoining unauthorized practice of the Iowa Supreme Court.

In this appeal, we must decide whether a disbarred attorney engaged in the unauthorized practice of law when he took a partial assignment of a judgment for back-due child support from a friend who owed him money and they both pursued collection in the same court proceedings. Nonlawyers can represent themselves in court to pursue collection on claims they wholly own by assignment. But a nonlawyer cannot represent another party in court. After a bench trial, the district court found this former lawyer engaged in the practice of law because his friend stood to receive part of the recovery on the assigned claim, and he helped her pursue collection of her own claims. We reach the same conclusion on our de novo review of the record and, therefore, affirm the injunction entered by the district court.

Analysis

 We must decide whether Sullins was representing Sarita in the collection efforts. If so, he engaged in the unauthorized practice of law. In his telling, he was simply pursuing collection on a claim he owned by assignment. The district court found otherwise after hearing the live testimony of both Sullins and Sarita. On the key disputed factual issue, the district court found Sarita more credible than Sullins and found that he was to repay her any amount collected on his assigned claim that exceeded what he had loaned her for living expenses. Based on our de novo review, we agree and affirm the injunction.

We first address whether the Commission’s pleadings encompassed the violations found by the district court. We conclude the pleadings adequately notified Sullins of the claims adjudicated. Next, we review caselaw addressing when a nonlawyer pursuing collection on assigned claims in court engages in the unauthorized practice of law. We conclude Sullins crossed the line by pursuing collection for Sarita. Then we address restrictions on drafting and legal assistance by one nonlawyer to another. We conclude Sullins crossed the line by assisting Sarita with her own court filings.

Document drafting is practicing law

But a party does not practice law when he or she merely assumes the role of a “scrivener.” Sturgeon, 635 N.W.2d at 684. In ” ‘determining what is the unauthorized practice of law,’ ‘practical considerations and common sense will prevail, not impractical and technical restrictions that may hamper or burden the public interest with no reasonable justification.’ ” Bergantzel, 619 N.W.2d at 316 (quoting In re Opinion No. 26, 654 A.2d 1344, 1354 (N.J. 1995)). In Sturgeon, we drew a line between unauthorized drafting and filling blanks on preprinted forms. 635 N.W.2d at 682. We explained drafting became unauthorized practice when “data entry (either by typewriter or computer) crosses the line between copying written information provided by the client and oral solicitation of the information necessary to fill out the documents selected by the preparer.” Id. LeRoy Sturgeon helped clients in his office prepare Chapter 7 bankruptcy documents. Id. at 680. Sturgeon claimed he “merely typed information, furnished by his clients, into preprinted forms.” Id. at 682. But Sturgeon did more than that; he “drew on his knowledge and experience in bankruptcy matters” in representing clients…

 Considering Sullins’s services from this perspective, we acknowledge there is no evidence Sullins physically drafted any filings for Sarita. Sarita testified Redenbaugh or Wieslander instructed her about how to draft her March 3 filings, and she wrote them herself at the courthouse. The record reveals Sarita’s filings consisted of the caption and one line in the body, stating she joined Sullins’s motions. It is apparent Sarita copied Sullins’s captions—typos included. Although Sullins did not physically draft Sarita’s filings, he guided her through his own motions, which he suggested Sarita join. He acknowledged advising Sarita with respect to her filings, including the legal effect of joining the 252K motion and the desirability of assigning certain years of her claim. The record shows Sullins went beyond a mere scrivener of legal information. He selected a particular course of action and advised Sarita about its desirability and effects. We believe this invokes the professional judgment ordinarily used by one who is engaged in the practice of law.

 Remedy: Stop. (Mike Frisch)