This Just In
Practicing law without a license is illegal in South Carolina. Who knew?
UPDATE: The decision in question is here. The article got some basic facts wrong. On the one hand, the agent apparently did not seek compensation for the illegally drafted will, as the NYT article suggested, but the SC did not consider this to be a mitigating factor. On the other, the illegal will was not the only UPL he committed. His other offense, drafting a general power of attorney for her to sign, was even more egregious.
UPDATE x2: The latter offense may not have been so egregious after all, if he had used the statutory uniform power of attorney at her direction. That form really does involve filling in a few blanks, and arguably would not constitute UPL, but she’d still have to be the one to select it in the first place.
