Warren practicing law without a license.

[MLRyan]

Is she one of those, "I'm 1/1000000th Cherokee so I'm a Native American!" people? I need JB to tell me what the law says about practicing law without a license.

 

[Dave70968]

Does it matter where her office is located if her license is for New Jersey? I thought a license for a particular state was only required if you filed documents with the court in that state or made appearances in front of a state or federal court located in that state.

I didnt think you had to have a license for that state to simply have an office. Otherwise, anytime an attorney took a call from a client while he was out of his licensed state, he would be considered practicing law in that state.

The article mentioned that there was a question of whether she was practicing from her office at Harvard and (apparently) working on cases in Massachusetts courts.

 

[RickN]

Does it matter where her office is located if her license is for New Jersey? I thought a license for a particular state was only required if you filed documents with the court in that state or made appearances in front of a state or federal court located in that state.

I didnt think you had to have a license for that state to simply have an office. Otherwise, anytime an attorney took a call from a client while he was out of his licensed state, he would be considered practicing law in that state.

According to the law you have to have a license to practice law in the state where your office is.

A lawyer who is not admitted to practice in this jurisdiction shall not:

(1) except as authorized by these Rules or other law, establish an office or other systematic and continuous presence in this jurisdiction for the practice of law; or

(2) hold out to the public or otherwise represent that the lawyer is admitted to practice law in this jurisdiction.

She admittedly is not licensed in Massachusetts, and yet she has established a law office in Massachusetts–one which she has referenced on any number of appellate briefs, and in which she has earned a large amount of money, and it turns out she is not licensed in NJ or Texas either.

http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/09/elizabeth-warrens-law-license-problem/

 

[JB Books]

It depends on what kind of law she practices. If she practices exclusively in Federal court, then she need only be licensed in one state. For example, a JAG officer can live and practice in Texas but be licensed in New York. Additionally, if she practices Social Security Disability or Immigration law, she can handle cases any place as long as she has a valid license in one state.

Representing plaintiffs in class actions/mass torts is a little different. Typically, all the cases are brought in one Federal jurisdiction (the term is MDL-multi-district litigation). Cases from around the country are brought in that particular court, unless they can be brought in their home state. (It's complicated and I am running out of steam).

Bottom line, you do not ALWAYS HAVE to be licensed in a state to practice there.

 

[mhphoto]

I would never vote for her, but I do respect her history of advocacy for consumers (even though she's represented some pretty questionable people in her career).

 

[ignerntbend]

The article mentioned that there was a question of whether she was practicing from her office at Harvard and (apparently) working on cases in Massachusetts courts.

This is the problem right now with the story. The press is out there srambling to find out if she has ever represented a client in court in Massachusetts. Has she not done something she wasn't liscensed to not do? Time will tell...tick...tick...tick

 

[11b1776]

Ah yes the crazy white Indian lady from Massachusetts.

 

[RickN]

Problem is that so far it looks like does not have a valid license to practice law anywhere. Her Texas license is inactive, she gave up her NJ license and has never had one for Mass. All the while practicing law in several cases. To top it off she has said several times that her office is in Mass and that is where her checks are sent.

 

[ignerntbend]

The real problem is the whole "practicing law" thing. Is teaching law at Harvard the same thing as practicing law in Mass?

 

[RickN]

The real problem is the whole "practicing law" thing. Is teaching law at Harvard the same thing as practicing law in Mass?

According to the link I provided, she has been handling cases from her Mass office and has used it as her address in court filings. The link is to to a piece by another law professor. One thing I did miss, she only gave up her NJ license earlier this month so she may have been eligible to handle federal cases but not others in Mass.