Sec. 916. (1) A person shall not practice law or engage in the law business, shall not in any manner whatsoever lead others to believe that he or she is authorized to practice law or to engage in the law business, and shall not in any manner whatsoever represent or designate himself or herself as an attorney and counselor, attorney at law, or lawyer, unless the person is regularly licensed and authorized to practice law in this state. A person who violates this section is guilty of contempt of the supreme court and of the circuit court of the county in which the violation occurred, and upon conviction is punishable as provided by law. This section does not apply to a person who is duly licensed and authorized to practice law in another state while temporarily in this state and engaged in a particular matter. (2) A domestic violence victim advocate's assistance that is provided in accordance with section 2950c does not violate this section. (3) An application assistant's or victim advocate's assistance that is provided in accordance with the address confidentiality program act does not violate this section.
Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.916
Unauthorized practice of law
Applied in 22 court decisions — leading case Patmon v. Michigan Supreme Court (2000)
Most recently applied in 316 Mich. App. 1 - McNEILL-MARKS v. MIDMICHIGAN MEDICAL CENTER-GRATIOT (June 2016)
1961, Act 236, Eff
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Michigan Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Michigan statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.