Dear Editor,
Regarding legal advice for small business owners, as
past-president of the Gilroy-Morgan Hill Bar Association.
Dear Editor,
Regarding legal advice for small business owners, as past-president of the Gilroy-Morgan Hill Bar Association., I would like to remind your readers that long before there were community colleges and small business development centers, the members of the State Bar of California provided legal advice to small business owners.
Today, our members remain ready to give legal advice to small business owners, whether or not the Gavilan Junior College Small Business Development Center performs educational services. In fact, as the three district attorneys’ offices in the three surrounding counties confirmed at the joint meeting I convened while president of GMHBA, only the members of the bar can practice law, including giving legal advice to business owners.
While business owners can seek education any way that they can get it, only a licensed attorney can practice law in California, and that includes, according to the California Supreme Court “legal advice and counsel.” Violation of the prohibition in Section 6125 of the Business and Professions Code is a misdemeanor. Attorneys who aid and abet in the commission of the crime are subject to disciplinary action by the State Bar of California and the State Bar Court.
Joe Thompson, Gilroy
