HB 1282 Arkansas House · 2025 Regular Session

CONCERNING THE UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW.

HB 1282 (now Act 110) amends Arkansas law to clarify and strengthen penalties for unauthorized practice of law. It directly affects non-lawyers who offer legal services in personal injury or property damage cases, such as those advising on claims, negotiating settlements, or soliciting clients for these matters. The bill specifically prohibits actions like contracting for representation on a contingent fee basis, advising on settlement offers, or entering exclusive agreements for selecting legal counsel without a license. This makes it a criminal offense to engage in these activities with the intent of gaining direct economic benefit, tightening existing restrictions on unlicensed legal assistance. The law took effect on February 18, 2025, after passing both legislative chambers.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

House Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Feb 2025

Signed into Law

Feb 2025

Introduced Jan 28, 2025 Signed Feb 18, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Act 110 → HB 1282 · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill text was reformatted from Act 110 to HB 1282, with the approval date removed and the document header updated to reflect the new session and bill number. No substantive policy changes, definitions, or requirements were altered.

Scope change

No change in scope or applicability

TECHNICAL

Removed the approval date (2/18/25) that was present in the previous Act 110 version

Updated document header to reflect 95th General Assembly, Regular Session 2025, and House Bill 1282 instead of Act 110

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 18, 2025

Signed into law

Notification that HB1282 is now Act 110

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Returned from the Senate as passed.

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Upper · Passed

Returned to the House as passed.

upper

Feb 13, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read the third time and passed.

upper

Feb 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

Returned by the Committee, with the recommendation that it Do Pass

upper

Feb 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate.

lower

Feb 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Returned by the Committee Do Pass

lower

Jan 28, 2025

Introduced

Filed

lower

2 primary · 3 co-sponsors