Legal Question in Criminal Law in California
Impersonating an Attorney
I live in CA and recently had a guy from Wyoming try to coerce me into breaking a legal, signed and binding agreement between us by claiming he was an attorney and he made all kinds of claims about how he'd do this and do that to win in court. This guy also owns a home in CA, so has two homes in different states.
I checked with the State Bar for each state and he is not an attorney.
Can I file any charges on this man?
According the the folks at the Wyoming State Bar, this is what they sent me: (b) General Rule. - No person may engage in the practice of law in the State of Wyoming, or in any manner hold himself or herself out as an authorized or competent to practice law in the state of Wyoming.
This man did state directly to me he was a lawyer and then went on to state how he was going to proceed with his case. I have this in writing through email. He was attempting to coerce me by stating he was an attorney.
This very much appears to be against Wyoming law because he did hold himself out as authorized to practice law in the state of Wyoming. He impersonated an attorney.
Am I misinterpreting this law?
Thank you for your time and consideration.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Impersonating an Attorney
The rules you cite are designed to protect consumers from hiring phony lawyers and are aimed at non-lawyers who try to lure clients who need competent legal help. This is not what your friend in Wyoming was trying to do.
Even so, he did falsely pass himself off as a lawyer and thereby violated the rules. I don't think he has committed any crimes (at least in California) but the Wyoming bar may be very interested in hearing about his claims. The California bar will be less interested since it seems the violation took place in Wyoming, but may want to investigate him anyway.
Keep in mind that your colleague may be licensed to practice law in some other state or country. I don't know how likely this is, but it's possible.
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