My family owns and operates a few apartments in a building in Brooklyn, NY. 
Recently, when some difficulties pertaining to a specific tenant came
about - a certain person who is currently a law student (2nd or 3rd
year I believe) approached the tenant and presented herself as
"attorney for the tenants" in order to coerce the tenant into sharing
information and following a certain course of action.

Needless to say, the law student has not yet passed the Bar and is not
a licensed attorney.
I believe that for a law student to feign being a lawyer and represent
herself as such is unethical.

My questions: 

1) Is there any means for me to file a complaint against this person
for pretending to be a lawyer when they are not? (Is there an ethics
committee to handle this kind of complaint?).
How would I do this? 

2) Is this merely an ethical issue or is such an action also illegal
and could I file a suit against her?

3) If I do file a complaint of ethical misconduct - what would be the
implications for the law student? Would this prevent her from being
able to become a lawyer? Would this go on record anywhere?

Thanks in adavnce for your assistance

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 26 Nov 2004 14:21 PST

Practicing law without a license is a crime in New York, plain and
simple.  I have no idea whether the person in question has crossed the
threshold with her actions, but if she has, then she can be
prosecuted.

Whether your accusation would prevent her from ever becoming a lawyer
is hard to say..it depends on what she is accused of, what steps are
taken, what findings are ultimately made.  Whatever the outcome, I
imagine there would still be opportunities to practics after making
appropriate amends, though serious damage to her career path would
seem likely.

Obviously, though, accusing someone of breaking the law is a serious
step to take, and should not be done lightly.

I can point you to a good interent resource on this topic, if that
would suffice as an answer to your question.  HOWEVER...please see the
disclaimer on the bottom of this page.  Researchers are not legal
professionals, and our answers are not a substitute for professional
legal advice.

Let me know how you would like to proceed.

pafalafa-ga

---

Clarification of Question by adymor-ga on 26 Nov 2004 19:00 PST

Thanks for offering to point me in the right direction. I feel that
"nkamom-ga" answer has given me what I needed. I will mark the
question as closed.

Thanks again.

---

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 26 Nov 2004 19:30 PST

adymor-ga,

You should certainly do as you see fit, but I just want to take issue
with nkamom-ga's comment.

The bar association can exercise authority over actual lawyers, but
has little involvement with pretend-lawyers.  The student in question
may or may not ever come before this particular bar in the course of
her practice (if she ever gets that far).

I suspect the bar association will tell you there is nothing they can
do, but perhaps we'll wind up being surprised here.

Again, best of luck...

pafalafa-ga


P.S.  nkamom-ga is NOT a Google Researcher...any member of the public
can post comments in the section below.

My first question is 'How did you know that this person was ONLY a student?'

And secondly, 'What evidence have you that he represented himself as a
LICENSED ATTORNEY?'

There seems to be an inconsistency ...

Case dismissed!

You should contact the Bar Association for your county.  It is
responsible for investigating claims of practicing law without a
license.  You can find the address and phone number in your phone
book.  The best course of action is to make a request in writing.  The
bar association does take this kind of claim seriously.  Should the
person be found in violation of the restrictions for practicing law,
it could vey well affect his/her ability to become licensed, for it is
the bar association that determines whether a person is of moral
fitness to practice law. (and please, no snide comments on moral
fitness and practicing law).

My first question is 'How did you know that this person was ONLY a student?'

Answer: This person is a family memebr and therefore I know her status. 

And secondly, 'What evidence have you that he represented himself as a
LICENSED ATTORNEY?'

Answer: My evidence is a written letter by the tenant and the tenant's
siser (who is also her attorney) attesting to this.

Thanks "nkamom-ga" - I will start there.

You are right, pafalafa-ga.  I am not a researcher - just a lowly
member of the public.  However, I AM a lawyer, and although my
suggestions and comments should not be interpreted as legal advice, I
do have some familiarity with bar associations.  In my jurisdiction,
the bar association is responsible for investigating claims of
practicing law without a license.  They even have authority to bring
such matters before a court.  I think any law student who represents
him/herself as a lawyer and practices law without the proper
credentials should be held accountable, and I believe my colleagues
will feel the same.

In Michigan we have a thing called a rental clinic at one of our law
schools. The students work there and represent tenants with
landlord/tenant problems. They work under a licensed attorney and are
able to counsel and appear in court just as if they were already
attorneys themselves. In these cases, they would not be "practicing
law without a license." I wonder if it may be something similar? If
you have a law school in the area you live, I suggest you follow up by
calling to see if they have a clinic. At least it may help you
understand where this law student came from and why.

Thanks, helpfulharry. That''s a good idea - I'll find out if they have
a clinic like the one you described.