The Supreme Court has determined that the term “practice law” as used in sections 6125
and 6126 means:
. . . the doing and performing services in a court of justice in any
matter depending therein throughout the various stages and in
conformity with the adopted rules of procedure. It includes legal
advice and counsel and the preparation of legal instruments and
contracts by which the legal rights are secured although such
matter may or may not be depending in a court.
People v. Merchants Protective Corp. (1922) 189 Cal. 543, 535 (emphasis added), cited with
approval in Birbower, Montalban, Condo & Frank, P.C. v. Superior Court (1998) 17 Cal.4th
119, 127-128. Law practice encompasses “legal advice and legal instrument and contract
preparation, whether or not these subjects were rendered in the course of litigation” (Birbower,
Montalban, Condo & Frank, P.C., supra, at 128), and the giving of legal advice on a matter not
pending before a court is nonetheless a violation of section 6125 and 6126. (Mickel v. Murphy
(1957) 147 Cal.App.2d 718, 721.)
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