Title 34 — Title 34

If any person shall, without having become duly licensed to practice, or whose license to practice shall have expired either by disbarment, failure to pay his license fee within 30 days after the day it becomes due, or otherwise, practice or assume to act or hold himself or herse…

Any register or clerk of circuit court, who practices law in the court of which he is clerk or register, or any partner of such register or clerk, who practices in such court, must, on conviction, be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500. History: (Code 1886, §3944; Code 18…

The Legislature hereby finds and declares that it is necessary and desirable, in the best interests of the state, that the Alabama State Bar have a building or buildings with space available for its administrative offices, for its Board of Commissioners, for the Board of Examiner…

The president, the first vice-president, and the secretary of the Alabama State Bar may become a corporation by presenting to the Secretary of the State of Alabama an application signed by them setting forth: (1) The name and official designation of each of the applicants; (2) Th…

When the application has been made, filed, and recorded as herein provided, the applicants shall constitute a corporation under the name proposed in the application, and the Secretary of State shall make and issue to the applicants a certificate of incorporation, under the Great …

The foundation shall be governed by a board of trustees consisting of the president, the first vice-president, and the members of the Board of Commissioners of the Alabama State Bar, each of whom shall be a voting member of such board of trustees and shall hold office as such con…

The foundation shall have the following powers: (1) To have succession by its corporate name in perpetuity; (2) To sue and be sued and to prosecute and defend in any court having jurisdiction of the subject matter and of the parties thereto; (3) To adopt and use a corporate seal …

All properties of the foundation, the income therefrom, and all other income of the foundation shall forever be exempt from any form of taxation in the State of Alabama. All deeds, lease agreements, and other recordable documents to which the foundation is a party shall be exempt…

As promptly as practicable after the incorporation of the foundation, the Governor shall execute and deliver to the foundation an appropriate deed conveying to the foundation that certain lot or parcel of land owned by the state and situated adjacent to the Judicial Building in t…

Buildings. To enable the foundation to construct a building or buildings suitable for the uses described in Section 34-3-100, the Board of Commissioners of the Alabama State Bar is authorized to disburse and pay to the foundation all or any part of the moneys appropriated to the …

It is the intention of this article that the foundation be a nonprofit public corporation. No part of the net earnings of the foundation shall inure to the benefit of any private individual, firm, or corporation. History: (Acts 1961, No. 670, p. 917, §9.)

Any judge of a court of record in this state who practices law in any of the courts of this state, or of the United States, or who renders any professional services or gives any legal advice, must on conviction be fined in such sum as the jury or court trying the same may assess,…

Any attorney-at-law who is the law partner of any district attorney in this state, who defends a criminal case of any kind, character or description in any court in this state in which such district attorney is the prosecuting officer, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon co…

Practicing as Attorneys in Their Own Court. Any officer who has the power or authority to take complaints and issue warrants of arrest, and who acts as an attorney in any such case in which he or she took the complaint or issued the warrant, or heard the examination or tried the …

The judge of any court of record, the sheriff or deputy of the sheriff must not practice law; the clerk of the circuit court or the deputy of the clerk must not practice in the county of which he or she is clerk or deputy; the register or his or her partner or the deputy of the r…

Every attorney-at-law before being permitted to practice shall take the following oath or affirmation before an officer authorized to administer oaths: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will demean myself as an attorney, according to the best of my learning and ability, and…

of Officers and Duties Thereof. (a) Annual meeting. There shall be an annual meeting of the lawyers of Alabama, open to all members of the State Bar in good standing, to be held at such place and time as the Board of Commissioners shall designate. At the same place, and immediate…

Members of Alabama Bar Association. All lawyers who are qualified to practice law in Alabama and who are not engaged in active practice because they are holding a state or federal office that precludes them from practicing law may become members of the Alabama Bar Association by …

Members of Alabama Bar Association. All lawyers who are qualified to practice law in Alabama and who are not engaged in active practice may become members of the Alabama Bar Association by paying directly to the secretary of such association an annual sum equal to 50 percent of t…

The provisions of this article shall not be construed to prevent any person from conducting or managing his or her own case in any court in this state. History: (Code 1852, §737; Code 1867, §871; Code 1876, §790; Code 1886, §863; Code 1896, §589; Code 1907, §2981; Code 1923, §624…

The Board of Commissioners of the State Bar shall have the following powers and authority in addition to the powers and authority heretofore conferred upon or vested in the board: The board shall provide for a Board of Examiners on Admission to the State Bar and may prescribe rul…

Exam. So long as the Birmingham School of Law, Miles College School of Law, and Jones School of Law maintain a four-year curriculum of law courses for resident law students each consisting of 30 weeks of classes or of one year more than the full- time program at the state univers…

It is the duty of attorneys: (1) To support the Constitution and laws of this state and of the United States. (2) To maintain the respect due to courts of justice and judicial officers. (3) To employ for the purpose of maintaining the causes confided to them such means only as ar…

An attorney has authority to bind his or her client, in any action or proceeding, by any agreement in relation to such case, made in writing, or by an entry to be made on the minutes of the court. History: (Code 1852, §743; Code 1867, §877; Code 1876, §796; Code 1886, §866; Code …

Authority. If it is alleged by a party for whom an attorney appears that he or she does so without authority, the court may at any stage of the proceedings, upon proof of the allegation, relieve the party for whom the attorney has assumed to appear from the consequences of his or…

The court or judge may, on motion of either party and on being shown reasonable grounds therefor, require the attorney for the adverse party, or for one of the several adverse parties, to produce or prove the authority under which he or she appears and, until he or she does so, m…

Any attorney-at-law, either before or after action brought, who gives, offers, or promises to give a valuable consideration to another person as an inducement to placing in the hands of such attorney or in the hands of any partnership of attorneys, or in the hands of any other at…

Attorney. Any person who shall, before or after an action is brought, receive or agree to receive from any attorney-at-law, firm or partnership of attorneys compensation for services in seeking out, procuring or placing in the hands of an attorney, firm or partnership of attorney…

Applicants for admission to the bar not required by law to take an examination shall pay a fee to be set by the Board of Commissioners, but not to exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500); applicants for admission who are bona fide residents of the State of Alabama who a…

All fees and licenses paid by applicants for admission as provided in this chapter and attorneys’ annual license fee levied by the revenue law shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Alabama State Bar and constitute a separate fund to be disbursed as provide…

(a) The governing body of Alabama State Bar shall be the Board of Commissioners composed of at least one member from each judicial circuit; provided that, for this purpose, that part of the Tenth Judicial Circuit, known as the “Bessemer Cut-off” electoral district, for electing i…

(a) The members of the Board of Commissioners for each judicial circuit shall be elected by the members of the State Bar who maintain their principal office in such circuit; provided, however, that for the Tenth Circuit, each commissioner shall be elected by the lawyers who maint…

Nomination to the office of commissioner shall be by written petition of any five or more members of the bar in good standing who maintain their principal office in the circuit where such nominee maintains his or her principal office. Any number of candidates may be nominated on …

(a) The Board of Commissioners shall have power: (1) To determine, by rules, the qualifications and requirements for admission to the practice of law; (2) To conduct through a Board of Examiners the examination of applicants; and such Board of Examiners shall certify to the Supre…

The Board of Commissioners of the Alabama State Bar is an agency of the Judicial Branch of state government. History: (Act 2026-58, §1.)

For the purpose of carrying out the objectives of this chapter and for the exercise of the powers herein granted, the board shall have power to direct the disbursement of the fund created by Section 34-3-4, which shall be paid on warrant of the state Comptroller upon certificate …

No attorney who is in default in the payment of such annual license shall be recognized in the courts of Alabama or in the voting or transacting of business by the State Bar as being in good standing until he or she has paid the required annual license fee. History: (Code 1923, §…

(a) Only such persons as are regularly licensed have authority to practice law. (b) For the purposes of this chapter, the practice of law is defined as follows: Whoever, (1) In a representative capacity appears as an advocate or draws papers, pleadings, or documents, or performs …

In all actions and proceedings in the probate courts and circuit courts and other courts of like jurisdiction, where there is involved the administration of a trust, or where there is involved the sale of property for distribution, or where there is a partition in kind of real or…

(a) Attorneys-at-law shall have a lien on all papers and money of their clients in their possession for services rendered to them, in reference thereto, and may retain such papers until the claims are satisfied, and may apply such money to the satisfaction of the claims. (b) Upon…

Whenever any disagreement or controversy arises between an attorney-at-law and any other person respecting the amount of the compensation to which he or she is entitled by contract or otherwise and his or her retention of the same out of any funds in his or her hands, such attorn…

(a) The Executive Director of the Alabama State Bar may establish special funds to receive fees, grants, or contributions from municipal, county, state, federal, sponsor, business, or charitable sources, or any other source, to conduct studies, educate attorneys and public offici…

Abetting in Violation. Any person, firm or corporation who is not a regularly licensed attorney who does an act defined in this article to be an act of practicing law is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction, must be punished as provided by law. Any person, firm or corporati…

Any person who practices law in any court in which he is clerk, deputy clerk or regularly employed to perform any of the ministerial duties thereof must, on conviction, be fined not less than $100. History: (Code 1876, §4144; Code 1886, §3942; Code 1896, §5128; Code 1907, §6315; …

The Board of Commissioners shall establish rules governing procedure in cases involving alleged professional misconduct of members of the State Bar. The grievance committee of the Alabama State Bar or the Grievance Committee of a circuit, county, or city association, established …

The rules and regulations adopted by the Board of Commissioners relative to disbarment shall not be effective until approved by the Supreme Court. History: (Acts 1923, No. 133, p. 100, §15; Code 1923, §6234; Acts 1931, No. 597, p. 683, §1; Code 1940, T. 46, §34.)

In the investigation of charges of professional misconduct, the board and any committee appointed by it for this purpose shall have power to summon and examine witnesses under oath and compel their attendance and the production of books, papers, documents, and other writings nece…

Any member of the bar complained of shall have notice and opportunity to defend by the introduction of evidence and the examination of witnesses called against him or her and the right to be represented by counsel. He shall also have the right to require the secretary to summon w…

The board shall by rules provided for such purpose and out of the funds herein provided for arrange for the payment of reasonable costs for the summoning of witnesses and the payment of their fees, which costs and fees shall be the same in amount as provided by law in civil cases…

A complete record of the proceedings and evidence taken by the board, committee, or commissioner shall be made and preserved by the board, but it may, where sufficient reason appears and the accused gives his or her consent, cause the same to be expunged. History: (Acts 1923, No.…