2006 Louisiana Laws - RS 37:219 — Unlawful payments by attorneys; unlawful solicitation of employment for legal practitioners; penalty

§219.  Unlawful payments by attorneys; unlawful solicitation of employment for legal practitioners; penalty

A.  It shall be unlawful for any attorney to pay money or give any other thing of value to any person for the purpose of obtaining representation of any client.

B.(1)  No person, firm, or entity shall solicit employment for a legal practitioner.  This Paragraph shall not apply to a communication governed by the Louisiana State Bar Articles of Incorporation, Article 16, Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 7.1.

(2)  This Section does not prevent any corporation or voluntary association formed for benevolent or charitable purposes and recognized by law from furnishing an attorney at law to give free assistance to persons without means.

C.(1)  Whoever violates the provisions of this Section shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars and imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for not less than ninety days nor more than five years.

(2)  For a second and each subsequent violation of the provisions of this Section, the penalty shall be a fine of not more than twenty thousand dollars and imprisonment at hard labor for not less than three years and for not more than fifteen years without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence for the first five years.

Added by Acts 1977, No. 759, §1.  Acts 1993, No. 420, §2; Acts 2001, No. 835, §1; Acts 2006, No. 684, §1.