Code of Alabama
Ala. Code § 34-3-1 (2026)
Unlawful Practice of Law.
✓ official Alabama Legislature (ALISON) text, current July 2026
If any person shall, without having become duly licensed to practice, or whose license to practice shall have expired either by disbarment, failure to pay his license fee within 30 days after the day it becomes due, or otherwise, practice or assume to act or hold himself or herself out to the public as a person qualified to practice or carry on the calling of a lawyer, he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not to exceed $500, or be imprisoned for a period not to exceed six months, or both.
(Acts 1923, No. 133, p. 100; Code 1923, §3318; Acts 1931, No. 241, p. 284; Code 1940, T. 46, §31.)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 8
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1983–2025 · leading case: In Re O'Dell, 251 B.R. 602 (Bankr. N.D. Ala. 2000).
In Re O'Dell, 251 B.R. 602 (Bankr. N.D. Ala. 2000). “See, Ala.Code § 34-3-1, et seq.; Ala.Code Prof.”
Ex Parte Williams, 2100653 (ala.civ.app. 9-23-2011), 89 So. 3d 135 (Ala. Civ. App. 2011). “In response, the Authority argues that Rogers did not engage in the unauthorized practice of law because, it says, she did not hold herself out to be an attorney in violation of Ala.Code 1975, § 34-3-1. Section 34-3-1 provides that a person who is not a licensed attorney engages…”
In Re Banks, 561 A.2d 158 (D.C. 1989). “See Ala.Code § 34-3-1 (1985); Conn.Gen.Stat. Ann.”
McFarland v. Folsom, 854 F. Supp. 862 (M.D. Ala. 1994). “The plaintiff in his complaint challenges Code of Alabama § 34-3-1 (regulating the unlawful practice of law), § 34-3-2 (establishing the board of bar examiners), § 34-3-6 (defining the practice of law and who may practice as attorneys), and § 34-3-40 (establishing the board of…”
Grace v. State, 445 So. 2d 976 (Ala. Crim. App. 1983). “” Code of Alabama 1975, §§ 34-3-1 through 34-3-6, cited by appellant as shown above, proscribes the unlawful practice of law by “any person” who has not “become duly licensed to practice, or whose license to practice shall have expired .”
Franklin v. Max Fed. Credit Union, 168 So. 3d 83 (Ala. Civ. App. 2014). “practice or assume to act or hold himself or herself out to the public as a person qualified to practice or carry on the calling of a lawyer, he or she shall be ■ guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not to exceed $500, or be imprisoned for a period not to exceed six months, or…”
Cooner v. State, 272 So. 3d 206 (Ala. Crim. App. 2018). “Code 1975, and three counts of unauthorized practice of law, see *209 § 34-3-1, Ala. Code 1975. 1 For the second-degree-theft-of-property and first-degree-perjury convictions, Cooner was sentenced to five years' imprisonment; those sentences were split and Cooner was ordered to…”
Teresa Darwin Phillips v. State of Alabama (Appeal from DeKalb Circuit Court: CC-22-432) (Ala. Crim. App. 2025). “Code 1975, and five counts of unlawful practice of law, see § 34-3-1, Ala. Code 1975. 2 CR-2024-0078 third-degree theft of property and the count of third-degree theft by deception; all sentences were to run concurrently.”
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