18 December 2006

Notary Publics Practicing Law?

In this week's Pennsylvania Bar Association email, there was a discussion of the PBA's feeelings on notary publics practicing law. Some notaries do other things besides just authenticating forms, and the PBA feels that this could constitute the unauthorized practice of law. Among other things, some notary publics use the Spanish term "notario publico." The use of that term is deceptive because in some Latin American countries, a "notario publico" is a person who is also an attorney. So, when someone says this, a person can be deceived.
This is a link to the PBA article.
Texas also has this problem. The Texas website actually has an interesting discussion of the history of notary public in Roman law and in English common law.
This statute shows how Texas handles the problem.

Disclaimer:
This post does not constitute legal advice. You do not form an attorney-client relationship with me by posting a comment on this blog, whether I respond to the comment or not. You should consult a lawyer if you have a legal question.

2 comments:

Jerry said...

I'm going to start using that disclaimer on my posts about melting down pennies and scamming blind people. I feel it is just as appropriate.

tammy said...

in ny, you are automatically a notary public if you are smart enough to pass the bar and become a ny lawyer.

DISCLAIMER: I do not mean to suggest that you will definitely pass the NY Bar. This is not a guarantee on my part. You do not get to be a lawyer simply by reading my comment.