Washington, D.C. -- A critical fight is brewing in the Nevada legislature, where Assembly Bill 18 would prohibit any individual from "practicing law" who is not a current member of the State Bar. Remarkably, the Nevada proposal does not even define what constitutes "practicing law," but gives the state supreme court a blank check to issue rules that would impose new criminal penalties on non-traditional legal service providers. With lawyers increasingly pricing themselves out of the reach of ordinary Americans, legal consumers in Nevada will be the biggest losers if this dangerous proposal becomes law.

HALT, a national consumer legal reform group, is urging its 50,000 members to speak out against what HALT Executive Director James C. Turner, called a "blatant attempt to protect the legal monopoly of lawyers and block access to the legal system by the ordinary citizen."

Introduced at the request of the State Bar last January, the Nevada bill would impose severe penalties on nonlawyers ranging from gross misdemeanors to category D felony.

"This bill would not improve the access of ordinary citizens to our legal system," Turner continued. "It is mainly designed to protect the pocketbooks of lawyers." HALT recently issued an Action Alert asking its Nevada membership to contact their representatives to vote against AB 18.

HALT-An Organization of Americans for Legal Reform pursues an aggressive education and advocacy program that challenges the legal establishment to improve access and to reduce costs in the civil justice system. HALT is known for its extensive collection of self-help law books and its advocacy to hold the legal profession accountable.