Unauthorized Practice of Law: Arizona

IT is GENERALLY recognized that the judiciary has the power to regulate the practice of law.1 The Arizona Supreme Court, in the recent case of State Bar of Arizona v. Arizona Land Title and Trust Co.,, exercised this broad judicial power by condemning as the unauthorized practice of law a wide variety of activities commonly engaged in by 'title companies and real estate brokers in that state. The complaint alleged that title companies and real estate brokers acting through employee-attorneys and lay employees had regularly and continuously engaged in preparing, drafting, and formulating for their numerous customers various documents affecting title to real property and in giving legal advice regarding these land transactions. The Arizona court, in holding the challenged conduct constituted the unauthorized practice of law, formulated a declaratory judgment defining the practice of law and decreeing specifically what the defendants could' and could not do4 in the future.