Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6126 · Article 7. Unlawful Practice of Law
Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6126
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) Any person advertising or holding himself or herself out as practicing or entitled to practice law or otherwise practicing law who is not an active licensee of the State Bar, or otherwise authorized pursuant to statute or court rule to practice law in this state at the time of doing so, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in a county jail or by a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. Upon a second or subsequent conviction, the person shall be confined in a county jail for not less than 90 days, except in an unusual case where the interests of justice would be served by imposition of a lesser sentence or a fine. If the court imposes only a fine or a sentence of less than 90 days for a second or subsequent conviction under this subdivision, the court shall state the reasons for its sentencing choice on the record.
(b) Any person who has been involuntarily enrolled as an inactive licensee of the State Bar, or whose license has been suspended, or has been disbarred, or has resigned from the State Bar with charges pending, and thereafter practices or attempts to practice law, advertises or holds himself or herself out as practicing or otherwise entitled to practice law, is guilty of a crime punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code or in a county jail for a period not to exceed six months. However, any person who has been involuntarily enrolled as an inactive licensee of the State Bar pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of Section 6007 and who knowingly thereafter practices or attempts to practice law, or advertises or holds himself or herself out as practicing or otherwise entitled to practice law, is guilty of a crime punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code or in a county jail for a period not to exceed six months.
(c) The willful failure of a licensee of the State Bar, or one who has resigned or been disbarred, to comply with an order of the Supreme Court to comply with Rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court, constitutes a crime punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code or in a county jail for a period not to exceed six months.
(d) The penalties provided in this section are cumulative to each other and to any other remedies or penalties provided by law.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 659, Sec. 90. (AB 3249) Effective January 1, 2019.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC§ionNum=6126.
- Text hash
- sha256 fbd782740a76f35303ee789878489af1930c6a64c0b7473b1293663e321dd079
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Business and Professions Code
Cited by 12 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6126. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Business and Professions Code
- Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6126.3Printed as Section 6126
- Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6126.5Printed as Section 6125 or 6126
- Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6126.7Printed as Section 6126
- Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6127.5Printed as Sections 6125, 6126 and 6127
- Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6401.5Printed as Section 6125, 6126, 6126.5, or 6127
- Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6403Printed as Section 6126 or 6127
- Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6406Printed as Section 6126 or 6127
- Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6411Printed as Section 6125, 6126, or 6127
- Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6413Printed as Section 6125, 6126, or 6127
- Bus. & Prof. Code, § 22442.3Printed as Section 6126
- Bus. & Prof. Code, § 22443.1Printed as Section 6126
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