AN ACT to amend the authority of the north carolina state bar CONCERNING paralegals and fees RELATING TO CERTIFICATION and to extend the sunset of the industrial commission fee earmarked for information technology.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 84‑23 reads as rewritten:
"§ 84‑23.  Powers of Council.
(a)	 The Council is  vested, as an agency of the State, with the authority to regulate the professional conduct of licensed  lawyers and State Bar certified paralegals. Among other powers, the Council shall administer this Article; take actions that are necessary to ensure the competence of  lawyers and State Bar certified paralegals; formulate and adopt rules of professional ethics and conduct; investigate and prosecute matters of professional misconduct; grant or deny petitions for reinstatement; resolve questions pertaining to membership status; arbitrate disputes concerning legal fees; certify legal  specialists and paralegals and charge fees to applicants and participants necessary to administer these certification programs; determine whether a member is disabled; and formulate and adopt procedures for accomplishing these purposes. The Council may do all things necessary in the furtherance of the purposes of this Article that are not otherwise prohibited by law. 
(b)	The Council or any committee  of the Council, including the Client Security Fund and the Disciplinary Hearing Commission or any committee  of the Commission,  may subpoena financial records of any licensed  lawyers, lawyers whose licenses have been suspended, or disbarred  lawyers, relating to any account into which client or fiduciary funds have been deposited. 
(c)	The Council may publish an official journal concerning matters of interest to the legal  profession.
(d)	The Council may acquire, hold, rent, encumber, alienate, and otherwise deal with real or personal property in the same manner as any private person or corporation, subject only to the approval of the Governor and the Council of State as to the acquisition, rental, encumbering, leasing and sale of real property. The Council  may utilize the services of the Purchase and Contract Division of the Department of Administration to procure personal property, in accordance with the provisions of Article 3 of Chapter 143 of the General  Statutes."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 84‑37 reads as rewritten:
"§ 84‑37.  State Bar may investigate and enjoin unauthorized  activities.
(a)	The Council or any committee appointed by it for that purpose may inquire into and investigate any charges or complaints of (i) unauthorized or unlawful practice of  law or (ii) the use of the designations, "North Carolina Certified Paralegal," "North Carolina State Bar Certified Paralegal," or "Paralegal Certified by the North Carolina State Bar Board of Paralegal Certification," by individuals who have not been certified in accordance with the rules adopted by the North Carolina State Bar. The Council may bring or cause to be brought and  maintained in the name of the North Carolina State Bar an action or actions, upon information or upon the complaint of any person or entity against any person or entity that engages in rendering any legal  service, holds himself or herself out as a North Carolina certified paralegal by use of the designations set forth in this subsection, or makes it a practice or business to render legal services  that are unauthorized or prohibited by law.  No bond for cost shall be required in the proceeding.
(b)	In an action brought under this section, the final judgment if in favor of the plaintiff shall perpetually restrain the defendant or defendants from the commission or continuance of the unauthorized or unlawful act or acts. A temporary injunction to restrain the commission or continuance  of the act or acts may be granted upon proof or by affidavit, that the defendant or defendants have violated any of the  laws applicable to unauthorized or unlawful practice of  law or the unauthorized use of the designations set forth in subsection (a) of this section or any other designation implying certification by the State Bar. The provisions of  law relating generally to injunctions as provisional remedies in actions shall apply to a temporary injunction and the proceedings  for temporary injunctions.
(c)	The venue for actions brought under this section shall be the superior court of any county in which the relevant acts  are alleged to have been committed or in which there appear reasonable grounds that they will be  committed  in the county where the defendants in the action  reside, or in Wake County.
(d)	The plaintiff in the action shall be entitled to  examine the adverse party and witnesses before filing complaint and before trial in the same manner as provided by law for  examining parties.
(e)	This section shall not repeal or  limit any remedy now provided in cases of unauthorized or unlawful practice of  law. Nothing contained  in this section shall be construed as disabling or abridging the inherent powers of the court in these matters.
(f)	The Council or its duly appointed committee  may issue advisory opinions in response to inquiries from members or the public regarding whether contemplated conduct would constitute the unauthorized practice of law."
SECTION 3.  Section 12.6C(e) of S.L. 2003‑284 reads as rewritten:
"SECTION 12.6C.(e)  The Commission may retain additional fees as authorized by subsection (a) of this section  until the 2009‑2011 fiscal biennium."

SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2004.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 16th day of July, 2004.

	s/	 Beverly E. Perdue
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 Richard T. Morgan
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved 5:01 p.m. this 2nd day of August, 2004