Immigration services.

Existing law, the State Bar Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public corporation. This bill would make it a violation of specified provisions of law relating to the unauthorized practice of law for any person who is not an attorney to literally translate from English into another language the phrases "notary public," "notary," "licensed," "attorney," "lawyer," or any other terms that imply that the person is an attorney. The bill would prescribe penalties, not to exceed $1,000 per day for each violation, for a person who violates these provisions. The bill would authorize these penalties to be allocated to a specified fund for purposes of providing free legal services related to immigration reform act services to clients of limited means, or to a fund for the purposes of mitigating unpaid claims of injured immigrant clients, as specified, as directed by the Board of Trustees of the State Bar. The bill would require the Board of Trustees of the State Bar to annually report any collection and expenditure of these moneys to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Judiciary. This bill would require, when a contract for legal services is required in writing pursuant to specified provisions of law, that an attorney providing immigration reform act services, as defined, provide a written notice informing the client that he or she may report complaints to specified entities. The bill would make these provisions operative when the State Bar posts the form and specified translations of the form on its Internet Web site, but no later than 45 days after the effective date of the bill. Existing law provides for the regulation of a person engaged in the business or acting in the capacity of an immigration consultant, and provides that a violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law requires an immigration consultant to provide a client with a written contract containing specified information prior to providing services. Existing law requires an immigration consultant to file a bond of $50,000 with the Secretary of State in accordance with specified provisions of law. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2014, increase the amount of this bond to $100,000. The bill would require that the written contract contain additional information relating to an explanation of the purpose of each service to be performed. The bill would require an immigration consultant to establish a client trust account and to deposit in this account any funds received from the client prior to performing immigration reform act services, as defined, for that client, and would impose certain requirements relating to the expenditure of funds from this trust account. The bill would prohibit an attorney or an immigration consultant from demanding or accepting the advance payment of any funds from a person before the enactment of an immigration reform act, as defined, and would require any funds received after the effective date of this bill, but before the enactment of an immigration reform act, to be refunded to the client promptly, but no later than 30 days after the receipt of any funds. The bill would require any funds that were received before the effective date of the bill for services not rendered before the effective date of the bill to be either refunded to the client or deposited in a client trust fund in accordance with specified provisions. The bill would prescribe penalties, not to exceed $1,000 per day for each violation, for immigration consultants who violate these provisions. Existing law prohibits an immigration consultant from literally translating the phrase "notary public" into Spanish. This bill would provide that a violation of these provisions constitutes a violation of specified provisions of law relating to the unauthorized practice of law. The bill also would prescribe penalties, not to exceed $1,000 per day for each violation, for immigration consultants who violate these provisions. Because a violation of these provisions by an immigration consultant would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.