Wash. Rev. Code » Title 2 · Chapter 2.48
Revised Code of Washington

Wash. Rev. Code § 2.48.190 (2026)

Qualifications on admission to practice

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section WA-LEGapp.leg.wa.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
No person shall be permitted to practice as an attorney or counselor at law or to do work of a legal nature for compensation, or to represent himself or herself as an attorney or counselor at law or qualified to do work of a legal nature, unless he or she is a bona fide resident of this state and has been admitted to practice law in this state: PROVIDED, That any person may appear and conduct his or her own case in any action or proceeding brought by or against him or her, or may appear in his or her own behalf in the small claims department of the district court: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That an attorney of another state may appear as counselor in a court of this state without admission, upon satisfying the court that his or her state grants the same right to attorneys of this state.
[ 2023 c 102 s 2; 1987 c 202 s 107; 1921 c 126 s 4; RRS s 139-4. Prior: 1919 c 100 s 1; 1917 c 115 s 1.]

Notes:

Rules of court: Admission—APR 5.
Reviser's note: Last proviso, see later enactment, RCW 2.48.170.
Intent—1987 c 202: See note following RCW 2.04.190.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 5 cases, 1952–1981 · leading case: Washington State Bar Ass'n v. Washington Ass'n of Realtors, 251 P.2d 619 (Wash. 1952).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Washington State Bar Ass'n v. Washington Ass'n of Realtors, 251 P.2d 619 (Wash. 1952). · cites it 15× “But he contends that, because he received no compensation for their preparation beyond his usual broker's commission for the real-estate transactions, he has not violated the statute (RCW 2.48.190 [ cf. Rem. Rev. Stat., § 1394]) proscribing the doing of "work of a legal nature…”
In Re Chi-Dooh Li, 488 P.2d 259 (Wash. 1971). · cites it 12× “He is married to an American citizen and is a "resident alien" with permanent residence status, having been granted this status under federal immigration and naturalization statutes in January, 1969, by the United States Department of Justice.”
Washington State Bar Ass'n v. Great W. Union Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n, 586 P.2d 870 (Wash. 1978). “987 (1924); RCW 2.48.190. Cf. CR 11; RAP 10.1(d), 10.”
Hagan & Van Camp, P.S. v. Kassler Escrow, Inc., 635 P.2d 730 (Wash. 1981). “" RCW 2.48.190 provides: "No person shall be permitted to practice as an attorney or counselor at law or to do work of a legal nature for compensation, or to represent himself as an attorney or counselor at law or qualified to do work of a legal nature, unless he is a citizen of…”
Hsieh v. Civil Serv. Comm'n of Seattle, 488 P.2d 515 (Wash. 1971). · cites it 2× “010); attorneys and counselors at law are required by statute to be United States citizens (RCW 2.48.190), and must, by similar statute, take an oath that they are citizens.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.