The Law Firm of Higbee & Associates scored a major victory today in the fight against unauthorized practice in the area of expungement and post-conviction relief.   The victory came in the form of a California Appellate decision that held that an attorney could use California’s Unfair Competition Law to sue a non-attorney for unauthorized practice of law.

 

This case stems from a California Court case where a law firm, The Law Offices of Mathew Higbee, sued an out-of-state business, Expungement Assistance Services (which operated ClearMyRecord.com), for unlawful acts, including fraud and the unauthorized practice of law.    The trial court ruled that the law did not allow a plaintiff who had no business dealing with defendant to sue the defendant.    The Court of Appeals unanimously reversed the trial court and even directed the appellate clerk of the court to send a copy of the opinion to the Attorney General, presumably for law enforcement action.

 

The published opinion can be found at http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/G046778.PDF

Written by Record Clearing

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