Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...Following judgment for the plaintiffs, defendants Chandris, S.A., Chandris, Inc., and Transport Mutual Services, Inc., appeal. 9 F.3d at 1511-12 (footnotes and record citations omitted). Chandris argues that Yanakakis procured the original agreement with Miliaresis through the unauthorized practice of law in violation of section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1983), [1] and thus the agreement is void ab initio....

...l parties legally affected by its terms. Id. at 1188 (footnotes omitted). We are venturing into uncharted territory today based on a factual situation that simply does not appear to justify such a drastic pronouncement. KOGAN, J., concurs. NOTES [1] Section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1983), provides: Any person not licensed or otherwise authorized by the Supreme Court of Florida who shall practice law or assume or hold himself out to the public as qualified to practice in this state, or who willf...

...Any other rule would simply reward Defendant and others who can conceal their illegal acts and obtain payment before being caught. Defendant was specifically found to have committed an illegal act in violation of the criminal statutes of the State of Florida, namely Section 454.23, Fla.Stat....

...The unauthorized practice of law and the practice of law by non-lawyers are not synonymous. Brickman, Expansion of the Lawyering Process through a New Delivery System: The Emergence and State of Legal Paraprofessionalism, 71 Colum.L.Rev. 1153, 1209-10 (1971); Section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1977) ("Any person not licensed or otherwise authorized by the Supreme Court of Florida......

...364, 183 P.2d 833, 173 A.L.R. 284. The same general principles laid down here with reference to proceedings conducted by The Florida Bar are equally applicable to disbarment proceedings instituted and prosecuted under the applicable statutes of this State. Section 454.23 et seq., Florida Statutes 1953, F.S.A....

...ida Bar shall be limited to conduct as an attorney in relation to the business for which the attorney was permitted to practice in this state and the privilege in the future to practice law in the state of Florida. (Emphasis added.) [3] For example, section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1997), provides: Penalties.—Any person not licensed or otherwise authorized by the Supreme Court of Florida who shall practice law or assume or hold himself or herself out to the public as qualified to practice in t...

...implying that he or she is qualified, or recognized by law as qualified, to act as a lawyer in this state ... shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.... See State v. Foster, 674 So.2d 747 (Fla. 1st DCA) (upholding constitutionality of section 454.23), review dismissed, 677 So.2d 840 (Fla....

...dmitted in other jurisdictions." Finally, rules 10-7.1 and 10-7.2 allow for petitions to be filed seeking injunctive relief and indirect criminal contempt respectively. An offending attorney could also potentially be subject to criminal charges. See § 454.23, Fla....

...handle all details in the formation thereof; that respondent had been previously informed by the Office of the Secretary of State that the formation of a corporation for another for a fee by a person not a lawyer, could be considered a violation of Section 454.23, F.S.A.; nevertheless, respondent did advise and represent one Richard Price and cause a Florida corporation to be formed for him, preparing the corporate charter and related documents....

...ncluding individuals. Pursuant to the Constitution of the State of Florida, Article V, Section 15, the Supreme Court of Florida has the "exclusive jurisdiction to regulate the admission of persons to the practice of law." Pursuant to Florida Statute 454.23, "any person not licensed or otherwise authorized by the Supreme Court of Florida who shall practice law ......

...We acknowledge that unlike real estate brokers, there are no specific regulatory measures equivalent to Chapter 475 which require disgorgement of fees under the facts in this situation. However, regulatory measures make it a criminal offense to practice law without a license, see section 454.23, Fla.Stat., and the admission of attorneys to practice law is considered a judicial function, see section 454.021, Fla....

...Persons not licensed as attorneys are prohibited from practicing law in Florida. "Any person not licensed or otherwise authorized by the Supreme Court of Florida who shall practice law . . . shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree." Fla. Stat. 454.23....

...onal business in a court of record of this state may, upon motion, be permitted to practice for the purpose of such business only, when it is made to appear that he has associated and appearing with him in such business an active member of the Bar." Section 454.23, Florida Statutes 1951, F.S.A., imposes a penalty on any one who practices law or holds himself out as a practicing attorney before qualifying to do so under the laws of Florida....

...gs. See Duval v. State, 709 So.2d 132 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998). This appeal resulted. [2] The only record evidence on the issue comes from the case progress abstract, which lists on the trial date "ASST. PUB. DEF: JOHN SZPAKOWSKI AND CHRISTINE BLACK." [3] Section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1995), provides: "Any person not licensed or otherwise authorized by the Supreme Court of Florida who shall practice law or assume or hold himself out to the public as qualified to practice in this state" is guilty of a misdemeanor....

ORDER PER CURIAM. The notice of appeal filed by appellant, a trust, was not signed by an attorney licensed to practice law in Florida. Section 454.23, Florida Statutes (2006), prohibiting the unlicensed practice of law, provides no exception for representation of a trust....

...nce to render some of the legal services which the respondent offers through media advertising. We find here the unique circumstance wherein the owners of a business are prohibited by law from rendering the services which they offer to the public (F.S. 454.23) are not competent by training to judge the quality of their product, are not subject to the licensing authority which regulates the distribution of their product and who purport to exercise no ultimate control over their primary employees....

...ations could not lie as the fee agreements upon which plaintiffs based their claims were void. First, defendants asserted that by entering into a fee arrangement with the seaman, Yanakakis engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in derogation of Section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1983)....

...Defendants note that Yanakakis was not, and is not, licensed to practice law in Florida. Nonetheless, as a resident of Florida, Yanakakis entered into a contingent fee agreement with Miliaresis in Florida. Therefore, Yanakakis engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in derogation of Section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1983)....

...ther the formation or the performance of the contract is criminal, tortious, or otherwise opposed to public policy. Thomas v. Ratiner, 462 So.2d 1157, 1159 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984); see also Sunbeam Corp. v. Master of Miami, 225 F.2d 191 (5th Cir.1955). 6 Section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1983), proscribes the unauthorized practice of law....

...Foster, pro se, for Appellees. MICKLE, Judge. The State of Florida appeals from orders issued in separate cases 1) dismissing charges against Scott E. Foster, Jr., and his wife, Martha J. Foster, purportedly arising from the unauthorized practice of law and 2) finding section 454.23, Florida Statutes, vague and violative of federal constitutional protections or unconstitutional in its application to the appellees....

...ur depositions by questioning four witnesses in two different cases. In Escambia County Case No. 94-22137, the State likewise charged Mrs. Foster for her participation in one deposition by questioning a witness. The applicable statute provides: *749 454.23 Penalties.— Any person not licensed or otherwise authorized by the Supreme Court of Florida who shall practice law or assume or hold himself out to the public as qualified to practice law in this state, or who willfully pretends to be, or wil...

...ed by law as qualified, to act as a lawyer in this state, and any person entitled to practice who shall violate any provisions of this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. § 454.23, Fla.Stat. (1993). In Mr. Foster's case, the trial court dismissed all counts against him; declared section 454.23 violative of the "fair warning" requirement and, thus, void as unconstitutionally vague as applied to the defendant; and certified the following question to this court pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.030(b)(4)(A) as a matter of great public importance: IS FLORIDA STATUTE 454.23 UNCONSTITUTIONALLY VAGUE AND VIOLATIVE OF THE FIFTH AND FOURTEENTH AMENDMENTS TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION WHEN USED TO PROSECUTE NON-ATTORNEYS FOR ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IN DEPOSITIONS IN CIVIL OR CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS BY QUESTIONING A WITNESS? Similarly, the trial court in Mrs. Foster's case dismissed the count, declared a portion of section 454.23 void as unconstitutionally vague, and certified another question: IS THE PHRASE "SHALL PRACTICE LAW OR ASSUME OR" WHICH IS INCLUDED IN FLA. STATUTE 454.23 WHICH PROHIBITS THE UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW SO VAGUE AND LACKING IN SPECIFICITY AND THEREFORE VIOLATIVE OF DUE PROCESS AND EQUAL PROTECTION FOR FLORIDA NON-LAWYER CITIZENS WHO ARE IN SOME WAY CONNECTED WITH THE LEGAL SYSTEM THAT IT MUST BE EXCISED FROM THE STATUTE FOR THE REMAINDER THEREOF TO SURVIVE CONSTITUTIONAL SCRUTINY? Assuming arguendo that we would find the statute facially constitutional, the trial court in Mrs. Foster's case determined that section 454.23 is "inapplicable or unconstitutional as applied in this case." The State's appeals were consolidated for briefing and on the merits. In reversing both orders, we conclude that the taking of a deposition constitutes the practice of law under section 454.23, Florida Statutes; that the statute is not void for vagueness; and that the law was not unconstitutionally applied to the appellees' activities....

...g one or more witnesses. The Fosters are paralegals who own a business that performs paralegal functions. Neither one is a licensed attorney or a person "otherwise authorized by the Supreme Court of Florida" to practice law in this state pursuant to section 454.23, Florida Statutes. The first issue to be resolved is whether taking a deposition constitutes the practice of law, for purposes of section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1993)....

...Riccardi's conduct constituted the unauthorized practice of law. Id. at 445. Citing Riccardi, the State asserts, and we agree, that the appellees' questioning of witnesses in depositions likewise constituted the unauthorized practice of law, in violation of section 454.23, Florida Statutes. *750 The second issue is whether the lower courts correctly found the statute to be unconstitutionally vague. See also State v. Trotter, 3 Fla.L.Weekly Supp. 361 (Hernando County Ct., July 28, 1995) (finding the words "practice law" in § 454.23, Fla.Stat., unconstitutionally vague in a case where the defendant determined the need for, and assembled, drafted, executed, and funded a revocable living trust). Because statutes are presumed to be valid, we view section 454.23, Florida Statutes, with a presumption of validity....

...1304, 1312, 1 L.Ed.2d 1498, 1511 (1957); State v. Dye, 346 So.2d 538 (Fla.1977). For example, in In re Snyder, 472 U.S. 634, 105 S.Ct. 2874, 86 L.Ed.2d 504 (1985), the Court analyzed a different statute containing language at least as broad as the wording at issue in section 454.23, Florida Statutes....

...t may also include doing business with the company, would constitute unauthorized practice of law), reh'g den., 91 Ariz. 293, 371 P.2d 1020 (1962). Analogously, the definition of the practice of law in Florida is not confined to *751 the language in section 454.23, but, rather, is shaped by the decisional law and court rules as well as common understanding and practices....

...Additionally, acts constituting the practice of law are described in the comprehensive federal and state civil and criminal rules of procedure and the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar. The appellees have not pointed out, nor have we found, any instance where section 454.23, Florida Statutes, has been found unconstitutional on any of the grounds argued at trial or set forth on appeal....

..." Id. at 1191-92, quoting State Bar of Michigan v. Cramer, 399 Mich. 116, 249 N.W.2d 1, 7 (1976). The quoted comment was not intended, and should not be construed, to suggest that the practice of law cannot be defined or that an attempt to interpret section 454.23, Florida Statutes, must involve guesswork and chance....

...nto the practice of law. Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar, 421 U.S. 773, 792, 95 S.Ct. 2004, 2014, 44 L.Ed.2d 572, 588 (1975); Konigsberg v. State Bar of California, 353 U.S. 252, 77 S.Ct. 722, 1 L.Ed.2d 810 (1957). Having considered the provisions of section 454.23, Florida Statutes, in conjunction with the pertinent case law and rules interpreting it, we conclude that the law regulating the practice of law is "set out in terms that the ordinary person exercising ordinary common sense can suffici...

...neral enough to take into account a variety of human conduct and sufficiently specific to provide fair warning that certain kinds of conduct are prohibited. Arnett, 416 U.S. at 159, 94 S.Ct. at 1647. On the question of whether the appellees violated section 454.23, we are guided by the following standards set forth by the Supreme Court of Florida in considering what constitutes the practice of law: We think that in determining whether the giving of advice and counsel and the performance of servi...

...witnesses in depositions, without the presence and immediate guidance and supervision of a licensed practitioner or other person authorized by the Supreme Court to practice law in Florida, constitutes the unauthorized practice of law in violation of section 454.23, Florida Statutes. Furthermore, we conclude that the law is sufficiently clear so as to put someone on notice of what conduct is proscribed. The third question is whether section 454.23, Florida Statutes, although facially constitutional, is unconstitutional in its application to the appellees' particular conduct....

...Constitutional limits on the application of a statute to activities at the fringes of defined conduct have no relevance to the law's application to conduct that falls clearly within its defined scope. The conduct at issue in the cases sub judice lies squarely within the intent and scope of section 454.23, Florida Statutes....

...at 2913-14 (even if the outermost boundaries of a challenged statute may be imprecise, such uncertainty is not relevant where the appellants' conduct falls squarely within the "hard core" of the statute's proscriptions). In summary, we find that active participation in a deposition constitutes the practice of law; that section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1993), is not unconstitutionally vague; and that the statute is not unconstitutional in its application to the appellees' activities....

...witnesses in depositions, without the presence and immediate guidance and supervision of a licensed practitioner or other person authorized by the Supreme Court to practice law in Florida, constitutes the unauthorized practice of law in violation of section 454.23, Florida Statutes....

...Accordingly, the facts herein are gathered from the statement of the evidence and proceedings which has been made a part of the record pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.200(b)(3). [2] These facts are discussed in the opinion, infra. [3] Ward was called as a hostile witness by the appellants. [4] See § 454.23, Fla....

...egulatory measures equivalent to Chapter 475 which require disgorgement of fees under the facts in this situation.” Id. at 887 . However, the court found that “regulatory measures make it a criminal offense to practice law without a license, see section 454.23, Fla....

...Likewise, enforcement of the policy here would validate a condition of coverage founded in illegality. The premise for furnishing coverage—Neiman's inability to function as an unlicensed lawyer— is founded in criminal conduct expressly prohibited by statute. See § 454.23, Fla....

...t from the problems *1287 of the innocent and uninformed with serious personal and legal problems who may be taken in by a smooth but deceitful demeanor." Neiman, 816 So.2d at 599. This is precisely the type of activity prohibited by Florida Statute § 454.23....

...sdiction. Art. V, § 4(b)(3), Fla. Const. And see, e.g., Freeman v. State, 503 So.2d 997 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987) (certiorari used to review order affecting a party's choice of counsel). In Florida the unauthorized practice of law is forbidden by statute. § 454.23, Fla....

...tutes. 407 F. Supp. at 477 ( emphasis ours ). See also United States v. Whitesel, 543 F.2d 1176 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 967, 97 S.Ct. 2924, 53 L.Ed.2d 1062 (1977). The present case is distinguishable from Stockheimer in that Florida, with section 454.23, has imposed a clear statutory impediment to non-lawyers' attempts to practice law....

...The applicable standard in such cases is preponderance; the evidence here would satisfy a far more rigorous standard. . It has come to the Court’s attention that Frank was arrested on March 10, 2017, for misrepresenting himself as qualified to practice law (§ 454.23, Fla....

...status to the public on its website and in its Terms of Service, and that the Bar has produced no evidence of harm to the public. However, TIKD’s disclosure of its nonlawyer status to the public does not permit it to do what its status as a nonlawyer prohibits it from doing. See § 454.23 (Attorneys at Law; Penalties), Fla....

...Hicks was initially represented by Knowles, and William R. Tunkey was subsequently added as co-counsel. 1 One week after Knowles arranged for the surrender of Hicks to the authorities, Knowles was charged with multiple misdemeanor counts of practicing law without a license in violation of section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1983)....

GOSHORN, Judge. Pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.030(b)(4)(A), we accept the following certified question from the county court as one of great public importance: WHETHER SECTION 454.23, FLORIDA STATUTES (1995) IS VOID AS BEING UNCONSTITUTIONALLY VAGUE? In answering this question in the negative, we align ourselves with the First District Court of Appeal and adopt the reasoning of Judge Mickle’s scholarly opinion in State v....

the unlicensed practice of law pursuant to section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1995).3 Accordingly, The

...d attorneys. However, in Bauer v. State, 610 So.2d 1326 (Fla. 2d DCA1992), we upheld the decision of a trial judge to disallow lay representation in a criminal *37 case, based upon the statutory proscription against the unauthorized practice of law, section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1991)....

...The supreme court explained its holding in Chandris as supporting policy concerns related to protection of the public. The prohibition on the unauthorized practice of law in Florida derives not only from the Rules of Professional Conduct, but also from statutory law. The court in Chandris noted that section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1983), provided that "[a]ny person not licensed or otherwise authorized by the Supreme Court of Florida who shall practice law ......

...wrong. While a contract *566 between a Florida Bar member and a client might be illegal, the Bar member's provision of legal services in Florida is not illegal. In contrast, the provision of legal services by a non-Florida Bar member is illegal. See § 454.23, Fla....

...See Fla. Bar v. Rapoport, 845 So.2d 874 (Fla.2003) (rejecting an argument that an attorney not licensed in Florida could represent clients in securities arbitration matters, concluding that rule 10-2.1(c) prohibited nonlawyers from practicing in Florida). Section 454.23, Florida Statutes, prohibits the unauthorized practice of law, and West violated that provision....

...LEVINE, J., and McCANN, JAMES W., Associate Judge, concur. NOTES [1] At mediation Carlos Morrison, the trustee, was represented by James Pressley, Jr.; Tommy Morrison, the nephew, was represented by Edward Downey. [2] The legislature has since amended the statute to make such conduct a felony. See § 454.23, Fla....

...ations could not lie as the fee agreements upon which plaintiffs based their claims were void. First, defendants asserted that by entering into a fee arrangement with the seaman, Yanakakis engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in derogation of Section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1983)....

...Defendants note that Yanakakis was not, and is not, licensed to practice law in Florida. Nonetheless, as a resident of Florida, Yanakakis entered into a contingent fee agreement with Miliaresis in Florida. Therefore, Yanakakis engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in derogation of Section 454.23, Florida Statutes (1983)....

Florida Statutes, regulating attorneys at law and section 454.23, Fla. Stat., prohibiting those not licensed