Chapter 84

Attorneys before they shall be admitted to practice law shall, in open court before a justice or judge of the General Court of Justice, personally appear and take the oath prescribed for attorneys by G.S. 11-11, and also the oaths of allegiance to the State, and to support the Co…

If any person knowingly violates any of the provisions of G.S. 84-4 through G.S. 84-6 or G.S. 84-9, fraudulently holds himself or herself out as a North Carolina certified paralegal by use of the designations set forth in G.S. 84-37(a), or knowingly aids and abets another person …

Every attorney who claims to enter an appearance for any person shall, upon being required so to do, produce and file in the clerk's office of the court in which he claims to enter an appearance, a power or authority to that effect signed by the persons or some one of them for wh…

When a plaintiff is compelled to pay the costs of his suit in consequence of a failure on the part of his attorney to file his complaint in proper time, he may sue such attorney for all the costs by him so paid, and the receipt of the clerk may be given in evidence in support of …

If any attorney commits any fraudulent practice, he shall be liable in an action to the party injured, and on the verdict passing against him, judgment shall be given for the plaintiff to recover double damages. (1743, c. 37; R.C., c. 9, s. 6; Code, s. 23; Rev., s. 215; C. S., s.…

There is hereby created as an agency of the State of North Carolina, for the purposes and with the powers hereinafter set forth, the North Carolina State Bar. (1933, c. 210, s. 1.)

The membership of the North Carolina State Bar shall consist of two classes, active and inactive. The active members shall be all persons who have obtained a license or certificate, entitling them to practice law in the State of North Carolina, who have paid the membership dues s…

The government of the North Carolina State Bar is vested in a council of the North Carolina State Bar referred to in this Chapter as the "Council." The Council shall be composed of a variable number of councilors equal to the number of judicial districts plus 16, the officers of …

(a) Except as set out in this section, the terms of councilors are fixed at three years commencing on the first day of January in the year following their election. A year shall be the calendar year. No councilor may serve more than three successive three-year terms but a council…

(a) The district bar shall be a subdivision of the North Carolina State Bar subject to the general supervisory authority of the Council and may adopt rules, regulations and bylaws that are not inconsistent with this Article. A copy of any rules, regulations and bylaws that are ad…

For purposes of this Article, the term "judicial district" refers to prosecutorial districts established by the General Assembly and includes the High Point Superior Court District as described under G.S. 7A-41(b)(13). The term "district bar" means the bar of a judicial district …

No justice, judge, magistrate, full-time district attorney, full-time assistant district attorney, full-time public defender, full-time assistant public defender, clerk, deputy or assistant clerk of the General Court of Justice, register of deeds, deputy or assistant register of …

(a) The phrase "practice law" as used in this Chapter is defined to be performing any legal service for any other person, firm or corporation, with or without compensation, specifically including the preparation or aiding in the preparation of deeds, mortgages, wills, trust instr…

(a) The practice of law, including the giving of legal advice, as defined by G.S. 84-2.1 does not include the operation of a website by a provider that offers consumers access to interactive software that generates a legal document based on the consumer's answers to questions pre…

The members of the Council and members of committees when actually engaged in the performance of their duties, including committees sitting upon disbarment proceedings, shall receive as compensation for the time spent in attending meetings an amount to be determined by the Counci…

(a) The Council shall adopt the rules pursuant to G.S. 45A-9. (b) The rules and regulations adopted by the Council under this Article may be amended by the Council from time to time in any manner not inconsistent with this Article. Copies of all rules and regulations and of all a…

The officers of the North Carolina State Bar and the Council shall consist of a president, president-elect, vice-president and an immediate past president, who shall be deemed members of the Council in all respects. The president, president-elect and vice-president need not be me…

(a) The Council is vested, as an agency of the State, with the authority to regulate the professional conduct of licensed lawyers and State Bar certified paralegals. Among other powers, the Council shall administer this Article; take actions that are necessary to ensure the compe…

(a) This section is in addition to and not a limitation of the powers and responsibilities of the council set out in G.S. 84-23. To the extent that this section deals with the same powers and responsibilities it shall be taken to be in amplification of those powers and not in der…

For the purpose of examining applicants and providing rules and regulations for admission to the Bar including the issuance of license therefor, there is hereby created the Board of Law Examiners, which shall consist of 11 members of the Bar, elected by the Council, who need not …

All applicants before the Board of Law Examiners shall pay such fees as prescribed under the rules of said Board as may be promulgated under G.S. 84-21 and 84-24. (1935, c. 33, s. 1; 1955, c. 651, s. 3.)

Notwithstanding G.S. 93B-5(b), each member of the Board of Law Examiners shall receive the member's actual expenses of travel and subsistence while engaged in duties assigned to the member; provided, however, that for transportation by the use of private automobile the expense of…

(a) Any attorney admitted to practice law in this State, any attorney admitted for limited practice under G.S. 84-4.1, or any attorney not admitted to practice law in this State who engages in or offers to engage in the practice of law within this State is subject to the discipli…

(a) There shall be a disciplinary hearing commission of the North Carolina State Bar which shall consist of 26 members. Eighteen of these members shall be members of the North Carolina State Bar, with 12 appointed by the Council, two members by the General Assembly upon the recom…

Persons shall be immune from suit for all statements made without malice, and intended for transmittal to the North Carolina State Bar or any board, committee, officer, agent or employee thereof, or given in any investigation or proceedings, pertaining to alleged misconduct or di…

(a) The chair of the Grievance Committee may designate a person a vexatious complainant if the complainant has initiated grievances to the North Carolina State Bar alleging attorney misconduct that even if proven, would fail to constitute a violation of the Rules of Professional …

(a) To be considered by the North Carolina State Bar, a grievance must allege conduct that, if true, constitutes attorney misconduct by violation of this Chapter or under the Rules of Professional Conduct and be filed by any of the following: (1) An attorney or judge pursuant to …

In any investigation of charges of professional misconduct or disability or in petitions for reinstatement, the Council and any committee thereof, and the disciplinary hearing commission, and any committee thereof, may administer oaths and affirmations and shall have the power to…

Any person who shall stand charged with an offense cognizable by the council or any committee thereof or the disciplinary hearing commission or any committee thereof shall have the right to invoke and have exercised in his favor the powers of the council or any committee, in resp…

The Council may appoint a member of the North Carolina State Bar to represent the North Carolina State Bar in any proceedings in which it has an interest including reinstatement and the prosecution of charges of misconduct or disability in the hearings that are held, including ap…

(a) In cases heard by the disciplinary hearing commission or any committee thereof, the proceedings shall be recorded by a certified court reporter and an official copy of all exhibits introduced into evidence shall be made and preserved in the office of the secretary-treasurer. …

(a) All documents, papers, letters, recordings, electronic records, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristic, in the possession of the State Bar or its staff, employees, legal counsel, councilors, and Grievance Committee advisory members conce…

The Council shall hold an annual meeting and other meetings necessary to conduct the business of the North Carolina State Bar. (1933, c. 210, s. 16; 1969, c. 104; 1995, c. 431, s. 24.)

(a) Every active member of the North Carolina State Bar shall, prior to the first day of July of each year, pay to the secretary-treasurer an annual membership fee in an amount determined by the Council but not to exceed three hundred twenty-five dollars ($325.00). (b) Every memb…

Deposits of the North Carolina State Bar, its boards, agencies, and committees shall be secured as provided in G.S. 159-31(b). (1991, c. 210, s. 3.)

In addition to fees the Council is elsewhere authorized to charge and collect, the Council may charge and collect the following fees in amounts determined by the Council: (1) A reinstatement fee for any attorney seeking reinstatement from inactive status, administrative suspensio…

Nothing in this Article contained shall be construed as affecting in any way the North Carolina Bar Association, or any local bar association. (1933, c. 210, s. 18.)

Nothing contained in this Article shall be construed as disabling or abridging the inherent powers of the court to deal with its attorneys. (1937, c. 51, s. 4.)

The clerk of any court of this State in which a member of the North Carolina State Bar is convicted of any criminal offense, disciplined, found to be in contempt of the court or adjudged incompetent shall transmit a certified copy of the order or judgment to the secretary-treasur…

(a) The Council or any committee appointed by it for that purpose may inquire into and investigate any charges or complaints of (i) unauthorized or unlawful practice of law or (ii) the use of the designations, "North Carolina Certified Paralegal," "North Carolina State Bar Certif…

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or association or his or their agent, agents, or employees, acting on his or their behalf, to solicit or procure through solicitation either directly or indirectly, any legal business, whether to be performed in this State o…

Each member shall provide a mailing address, phone number, and email address to the secretary-treasurer of the State Bar to be that member's contact information of record with the court, pursuant to G.S. 1A-1, Rule 5. Contact information provided by the member pursuant to G.S. 84…

Except as otherwise permitted by law, it shall be unlawful for any person or association of persons, except active members of the Bar of the State of North Carolina admitted and licensed to practice as attorneys-at-law, to appear as attorney or counselor at law in any action or p…

Any attorney domiciled in another state, and regularly admitted to practice in the courts of record of and in good standing in that state, having been retained as attorney for a party to any civil or criminal legal proceeding pending in the General Court of Justice of North Carol…

Permission granted under G.S. 84-4.1 may be summarily revoked by the General Court of Justice or any agency, including the North Carolina Utilities Commission, on its own motion and in its discretion. (1967, c. 1199, s. 2; 1971, c. 550, s. 2; 1995, c. 431, s. 6.)

(a) It shall be unlawful for any corporation to practice law or appear as an attorney for any person in any court in this State, or before any judicial body or the North Carolina Industrial Commission, Utilities Commission, or the Department of Commerce, Division of Employment Se…

(a) Subject to the rules and regulations of the North Carolina State Bar, as approved by the Supreme Court of North Carolina, a nonprofit corporation, tax exempt under 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3), organized or authorized under Chapter 55A of the General Statutes of North Carolina and o…

It shall be unlawful to exact, charge, or receive any attorney's fee for the foreclosure of any mortgage under power of sale, unless the foreclosure is conducted by licensed attorney-at-law of North Carolina, and unless the full amount charged as attorney's fee is actually paid t…

The district attorney of any of the superior courts shall, upon the application of any member of the Bar, or of any bar association, of the State of North Carolina, bring such action in the name of the State as may be proper to enjoin any such person, corporation, or association …

The provisions of G.S. 84-4 through G.S. 84-6 shall not apply to any of the following: (1) Any law school conducting a legal clinic and receiving as its clientage only those persons unable financially to compensate for legal advice or services rendered and any law student permitt…