GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2009
SESSION LAW 2009-231
SENATE BILL 763
AN ACT to clarify the authorization for Certain nonprofit corporations to render legal services.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 84-5.1 reads as rewritten:
"§
84-5.1. Rendering of indigent legal services by certain nonprofit
corporations.
(a) Subject
to the rules and regulations of the North Carolina State Bar, as approved by
the Supreme Court of North Carolina, a nonprofit corporation, tax exempt
under 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3), organized or authorized under
Chapter 55A of the General Statutes of North Carolina and operating as a
public interest law firm as defined by the applicable Internal Revenue Service
guidelines or for the sole primary purpose of rendering
indigent legal services, may render such services through provided
by attorneys duly licensed to practice law in North Carolina.
Carolina, for the purposes for which the nonprofit corporation was organized.
The nonprofit corporation must have a governing structure that does not permit
an individual or group of individuals other than an attorney duly licensed to
practice law in North Carolina to control the manner or course of the legal
services rendered and must continually satisfy the criteria established by the
Internal Revenue Service for 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) status, whether or not any
action has been taken to revoke that status.
(b) In no instance may legal services rendered by a nonprofit corporation under subsection (a) of this section be conditioned upon the purchase or payment for any product, good, or service other than the legal service rendered."
SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 24th day of June, 2009.
s/ Walter H. Dalton
President of the Senate
s/ Joe Hackney
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ Beverly E. Perdue
Governor
Approved 5:56 p.m. this 30th day of June, 2009