{ "id": "R40822", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R40822", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 352296, "date": "2009-09-18", "retrieved": "2016-04-07T02:16:42.904356", "title": "Legal Ethics in Immigration Matters: Legal\u00a0Representation and Unauthorized Practice of\u00a0Law", "summary": "The unauthorized practice of law by persons who are not attorneys, ineffective assistance by licensed attorneys, or other unethical conduct can cause irreversible harm to aliens seeking immigration benefits or relief. Aliens may forfeit, temporarily or permanently, the benefits they seek, due in part to the prevalence of unethical conduct targeting a population that some regard as particularly vulnerable to such abuses. In recent years, the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and various state attorneys general have taken action to address the problems posed by unethical conduct by immigration attorneys and by persons posing as immigration attorneys, such as so-called \u201cnotarios\u201d and other immigration consultants. \nThe variety of existing laws and rules that may be used to deal with unethical conduct by lawyers and other representatives or consultants in immigration matters include the professional conduct and disciplinary rules of the EOIR and USCIS; the state court/bar rules and/or state laws governing ethical conduct of lawyers and other representatives/consultants, including laws regarding the unauthorized practice of law; the Federal Trade Commission Act; and state consumer laws, including consumer fraud laws and unfair and deceptive acts and practices laws. Various legislative proposals have been introduced in Congress to provide a federal, nationally applicable, and consistent framework for dealing with the problems presented by unethical conduct by attorneys and other representatives/consultants in immigration matters: H.R. 1992/S. 577, the Immigration Fraud Prevention Act of 2009; and \u00a7245 of H.R. 994, the Loophole Elimination and Verification Enforcement (LEAVE) Act. This report provides an overview of these issues.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R40822", "sha1": "de7638828e259f5b6b043227007dd319cb111466", "filename": "files/20090918_R40822_de7638828e259f5b6b043227007dd319cb111466.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R40822", "sha1": "00f599ca66b6e488f7521879a5ddec6b4b5b1f63", "filename": "files/20090918_R40822_00f599ca66b6e488f7521879a5ddec6b4b5b1f63.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [] }