“A perfect example is out of state competition. Our state does nothing to stop it, even though it is illegal for someone not admitted to practice in the state to practice law, and yet continually puts more and more red tape on lawyers who are admitted to practice in the state.”
That’s pretty typical in a lot of states. I don’t know that there is much a state bar can do to an out of state attorney. What are they going to do, take his license? They only have authority over people they license. We have criminal statutes in my state for the unauthorized practice of law, but they are narrowly written and don’t apply to many different situations where someone would actually be engaged in the practice of law in our state, and prosecutors almost never prosecute any cases under those statutes so they are pretty useless.
You are right. California is one of the few states I know where the government gets aggressive about the unauthorized practice of law and will go after outside attorneys. My state just shrugs and says it’s not a priority.
What the Bar could do is at least make a stink about it. But no, they are too wrapped up in being politically correct and doing what the Chief Justice says, like continually talking about increased mandatory pro bono and new silly CLE requirements.