Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3353 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Walle H.B. No. 3353
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the offense of barratry and solicitation of
7	7	professional employment.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 4102.151, Insurance Code, is amended to
10	10	read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 4102.151. SOLICITATION PROHIBITED [DURING NATURAL
12	12	DISASTER]. A license holder may not solicit or attempt to solicit a
13	13	client for employment [during the progress of a loss-producing
14	14	natural disaster occurrence].
15	15	SECTION 2. Section 4102.152, Insurance Code, is repealed.
16	16	SECTION 3. Section 38.12(d), Penal Code, is amended to read
17	17	as follows:
18	18	(d) A person commits an offense if the person:
19	19	(1) is an attorney, chiropractor, physician, surgeon,
20	20	[or] private investigator, or public insurance adjuster licensed to
21	21	practice in this state, or any person licensed, certified, or
22	22	registered by a health care regulatory agency of this state, or any
23	23	vendor or agent for or representative of an insurance company
24	24	authorized to engage in the business of automobile or other
25	25	property and casualty insurance in this state who discusses the
26	26	settlement or evaluation of a casualty claim or the casualty
27	27	portion of a claim; and
28	28	(2) with the intent to obtain professional employment
29	29	for the person or for another, provides or knowingly permits to be
30	30	provided to an individual who has not sought the person's
31	31	employment, legal representation, advice, or care a written
32	32	communication or a solicitation, including a solicitation in person
33	33	or by telephone, that:
34	34	(A) concerns an action for personal injury or
35	35	wrongful death or otherwise relates to an accident or disaster
36	36	involving the person to whom the communication or solicitation is
37	37	provided or a relative of that person and that was provided before
38	38	the 31st day after the date on which the accident or disaster
39	39	occurred;
40	40	(B) concerns a specific matter and relates to legal
41	41	representation and the person knows or reasonably should know that
42	42	the person to whom the communication or solicitation is directed is
43	43	represented by a lawyer in the matter;
44	44	(C) concerns a lawsuit of any kind, including an
45	45	action for divorce, in which the person to whom the communication or
46	46	solicitation is provided is a defendant or a relative of that
47	47	person, unless the lawsuit in which the person is named as a
48	48	defendant has been on file for more than 31 days before the date on
49	49	which the communication or solicitation was provided;
50	50	(D) is provided or permitted to be provided by a
51	51	person who knows or reasonably should know that the injured person
52	52	or relative of the injured person has indicated a desire not to be
53	53	contacted by or receive communications or solicitations concerning
54	54	employment;
55	55	(E) involves coercion, duress, fraud, overreaching,
56	56	harassment, intimidation, or undue influence; or
57	57	(F) contains a false, fraudulent, misleading,
58	58	deceptive, or unfair statement or claim.
59	59	SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
60	60	to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
61	61	An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
62	62	governed by the law in effect at the time the offense was committed,
63	63	and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
64	64	purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
65	65	effective date of this Act if any element of the of
66	66	fense occurred
67	67	before that date.
68	68	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.