Cal. Rules of Prof. Conduct, rule 5.5 · Chapter 5. Law Firms and Associations
Unauthorized Practice of Law; Multijurisdictional Practice of Law
Text — 2026 edition, as the State Bar of California publishes it (read October 22, 2026)
(a) A lawyer admitted to practice law in California shall not:
(1) practice law in a jurisdiction where to do so would be in violation of regulations of the profession in that jurisdiction; or
(2) knowingly* assist a person* in the unauthorized practice of law in that jurisdiction.
(b) A lawyer who is not admitted to practice law in California shall not:
(1) except as authorized by these rules or other law, establish or maintain a resident office or other systematic or continuous presence in California for the practice of law; or
(2) hold out to the public or otherwise represent that the lawyer is admitted to practice law in California.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
Comment
Paragraph (b)(1) prohibits lawyers from practicing law in California unless otherwise entitled to practice law in this state by court rule or other law. (See, e.g., Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6125 et seq.; see also Cal. Rules of Court, rules 9.40 [counsel pro hac vice], 9.41 [appearances by military counsel], 9.42 [certified law students], 9.43 [out-of-state attorney arbitration counsel program], 9.44 [registered foreign legal consultant], 9.45 [registered legal services attorneys], 9.46 [registered in-house counsel], 9.47 [attorneys practicing temporarily in California as part of litigation], 9.48 [non-litigating attorneys temporarily in California to provide legal services].)
Source of truth
- Edition
- 2026 edition, as the State Bar of California publishes it (read October 22, 2026)
- Official file
- https://www.calbar.ca.gov/sites/default/files/portals/0/documents/rules/Rules-of-Professional-Conduct.pdf (PDF pages 60)
- Text hash
- sha256 f9ca75cf1a05dbd98cc0ce4996e2aa56d8b6dcb872d778f4b7b7b2e8f72c74f4
- Composed by
- rpc/build 2026-10-22: the State Bar's 2026 PDF (pages 12-71) read by two readers, PyMuPDF glyph positions and pdfminer with the PDF's tagged structure, agreeing on 834 of 843 paragraphs character for character, the other nine (paragraph boundaries only) resolved against the rendered page; 205,485 printed glyphs accounted for; the State Bar's chapter pages a third reading
This rule 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
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.