LegalZoom, the online legal documents preparation
service, is seeking a toehold in North Carolina by amending
the statutory definition of the practice of law in G.S. 84-2.1 over
the objections of the North Carolina Bar. The fight has spilled
over from the Business Court in the Legislature making two of our
three branches of government the battleground.
As we've already reported, the Senate Judiciary Committee
produced a PCS for HB 663 that eliminated all language
about farm commodity food safety and replaced it with a
change to the scope of the practice of law that would allow
LegalZoom and others to operate legally in NC. The word in the
halls of the legislature was the NC Bar was given a heads up
but not ample time to rally the troops to the cause. The bill
passed committee and was added to the Senate Calendar for July 1st,
and then for July 9th, and then it was sent to the Senate
"Parking Lot", or the Rules Committee. But this bill
didn't die in Rules; it's still got a pulse.
Senate Leadership has been pushing the NC Bar to work with
LegalZoom to reach a compromise which it appears has happened, and
today we got a look at the language that we think will be the new
bill.
New language for HB 663:
(2) The production, distribution or sale of
materials, provided that:
(a) The production of the
materials must have occurred entirely before any contact
between the provider and the consumer;
(b) During and after initial
contact between the provider and the consumer, the provider's
participation in creating or completing any materials must be
limited to typing, writing, or reproducing exactly the information
provided by the consumer as dictated by the consumer or deleting
content that is visible to the consumer at the instruction of the
consumer;
(c) The provider does not select
or assist in the selection of the product for the consumer;
provided, however, (i) operating a website that requires the
consumer to select the product to be purchased, (ii) publishing
descriptions of the products offered, when not done to address the
consumer's particular legal situation and when the products
offered and the descriptions published to every consumer are
identical, and (iii) publishing general information about the law,
when not done to address the consumer's particular legal
situation and when the general information published to every
consumer is identical, does not constitute assistance in selection
of the product;
(d) The provider does not provide any
individualized legal advice to or exercise any legal judgment for
the consumer; provided, however, that publishing general
information about the law and describing the products offered, when
not done to address the consumer's particular legal situation
and when the general information published to every consumer is
identical, does not constitute legal advice or the exercise of
legal judgment;
(e) During and after initial
contact between the provider and the consumer, the provider may not
participate in any way in selecting the content of the finished
materials;
(f) In the case of the
sale of materials including information supplied by the consumer
through an internet web site or otherwise, the consumer is provided
a means to see the blank template or the final, completed product
before finalizing a purchase of that product;
(g) The provider does not review
the consumer's final product for errors other than notifying
the consumer (i) of spelling errors, (ii) that a required field has
not been completed, and (iii) that information entered into a form
or template by the consumer is factually inconsistent with other
information entered into the form or template by the
consumer;
(h) The provider must clearly
and conspicuously communicate to the consumer that the materials
are not a substitute for the advice or services of an
attorney;
(i) The provider
discloses its legal name and physical location and address to the
consumer;
(j) The provider
does not disclaim any warranties or liability and does not limit
the recovery of damages or other remedies by the consumer;
and
(k) the provider
does not require the consumer to agree to jurisdiction or
venue in any state other than North Carolina for the resolution of
disputes between the provider and the
consumer.
For purposes of this subsection,
"production" shall mean design, creation, publication or
display, including by means of an internet web site;
"materials" shall mean legal written materials, books,
documents, templates, forms, or computer software; and
"provider" shall mean designer, creator, publisher,
distributor, displayer or seller.
House Judiciary Chairman Leo Daughtry tells us the House
is still pretty cool to the idea. And we're nearing the
twilight of the session.
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