This CLE course will familiarize private practice attorneys with tips and strategies to avoid unintentionally committing UPL violations. This applies particularly to those who perform transactional work and/or are telecommuting from a state or states that is outside where they are admitted to practice.

Addressing the contours of what constitutes the unauthorized practice of law (UPL), this CLE course, based partially on an article I had written, will open with a walk through of LegalZoom’s travails as it addressed and overcame a series of UPL challenges from various jurisdictions and overlap with the company expansion into a nationwide provider of legal services with a focus on small business and individuals.

The course will then describe and apply ABA Model Rule 5.5 through various hypothetical and actual cases. These will explain what constitutes UPL and its various permutations and modifications.