PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
An Act To Make Technical Changes to the Laws Governing the Practice of Law
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 4 MRSA §807, sub-§3, ¶O, as amended by PL 2007, c. 611, §2, is further amended to read:
 
O. A person who is not an attorney, but who is representing a party in any hearing, action or proceeding before the Maine Public Employees Retirement System; or
Sec. 2. 4 MRSA §807, sub-§3, ¶P, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 611, §3, is amended to read:
 
P. A person who is not an attorney but who, as the executive director of the State Harness Racing Commission, is representing the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources at adjudicatory hearings before the commission in accordance with Title 8, section 263-C.; or
Sec. 3.  4 MRSA §807, sub-§3, ¶Q  is enacted to read:
 
Q.  A person who is an attorney admitted to practice in another United States jurisdiction to the extent permitted by rules of professional conduct adopted by the Supreme Judicial Court.
 
SUMMARY
The statute prohibiting the practice of law by persons not licensed in this State is currently in conflict with Rule 5.5 of the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct adopted by the Supreme Judicial Court in August 2009. This bill eliminates that conflict by providing that practice by an attorney licensed by another jurisdiction in the United States does not violate the unlicensed practice statute as long as that practice conforms to the requirements of Rule 5.5.