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Providing Legal Software Considered Unauthorized Practice of Law
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that the actions of a legal software provider were tantamount to the unauthorized practice of law. Under California law, preparing contracts and legal instruments is only one aspect of the practice of law; thus, in order to practice law, one must go beyond clerical or impersonal instruction on how to complete the forms. Here, the software provider sold access to the software, and as such, the Court found it to be a Bankruptcy Petition Preparer (BPP). The Court found the BPP’s action clearly amounted to the practice of law, and since BPPs are not attorneys, they can not practice law.
The software performed the following functions: i) it offered informational guides which contained different facets of bankruptcy law; ii) prepared bankruptcy petitions and schedules; iii) organized user information; iv) provided legal citations to support its output; and v) selected exemptions a user should claim. Moreover, on its website, the software provider held itself out as offering legal expertise and services comparable to those of a “top-notch bankruptcy lawyer.”
For a copy of the decision, visit:
http://servicios.vlex.com/archivos//1_3/im_1_3_26535410_in1.pdf