ORDERS:
ORDER OF DISMISSAL
This matter is before the undersigned Administrative Law Judge pursuant to a purported
request for a contested case hearing filed by Jim Swain regarding Respondent South Carolina
Department of Health and Environmental Control’s (“DHEC”) issuance of permit # OCRM-03-337-E
to Max Gysin for construction of a house in Beaufort County. A review of the file reveals that Mr.
Swain, a realtor in St. Helena, South Carolina, purported to file the request for a contested case
hearing on behalf of Mr. Gysin, a resident of Kennesaw, Georgia.
This tribunal has a duty not to allow the unauthorized practice of law in cases pending before
it. See Rule 407 - 5.5., SCRAP (“A lawyer shall not . . . [a]ssist a person who is not a member of
the bar in the performance of activity that constitutes the unauthorized practice of law.”). Pursuant
to South Carolina law, “[n]o person may practice or solicit the cause of another person in a court of
this State unless he has been admitted and sworn as an attorney.” S.C. Code Ann. § 40-5-310
(2001).
In In re: Unauthorized Practice of Law Rules Proposed by the South Carolina Bar, 309 S.C.
304, 422 S.E.2d 123 (1992), the South Carolina Supreme Court held:
State agencies may, by regulation, authorize persons not licensed to practice law in
South Carolina, including laypersons, Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), attorneys
licensed in other jurisdictions and persons possessing Limited Certificates of
Admission, to appear and represent clients before the agency. These regulations are
presumptively valid and acts done in compliance with the regulations are
presumptively not the unauthorized practice of law. We recognize, however, that
such an agency practice could be abused, and reserve the authority to declare
unenforceable any regulation which results in injury to the public.
Id. at 307, 422 S.E.2d at 124. However, DHEC has not promulgated any regulations allowing
persons not licensed to practice law in South Carolina, including realtors, to appear and represent
clients before that agency.
Mr. Swain cannot practice law on behalf of the Appellant, or appear as an attorney for the
Appellant, in a court of this State or before any judicial body. That includes the filing with DHEC
of a request for a contested case hearing before the ALJD. To allow otherwise would be to permit
the unauthorized practice of law. Therefore,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this matter is dismissed;
AND IT IS SO ORDERED.
________________________________________
C. DUKES SCOTT
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE
February 6, 2004
Columbia, South Carolina |
