89R4812 AMF-F
By: Canales H.B. No. 2733
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of the criminal offenses of prohibited
barratry and solicitation of professional employment.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 38.12(a) and (d), Penal Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if, with intent to obtain an
economic benefit the person:
(1) knowingly institutes a suit or claim that the
person has not been authorized to pursue;
(2) solicits employment, [either] in person, [or] by
telephone, through a direct message on a social media platform, or
by another electronic communication, for the person [himself] or
for another;
(3) pays, gives, or advances or offers to pay, give, or
advance to a prospective client money or anything of value to obtain
employment as a professional from the prospective client;
(4) pays or gives or offers to pay or give a person
money or anything of value to solicit employment;
(5) pays or gives or offers to pay or give a family
member of a prospective client money or anything of value to solicit
employment; or
(6) accepts or agrees to accept money or anything of
value to solicit employment.
(d) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) is an attorney, chiropractor, physician, surgeon,
or private investigator licensed to practice in this state or any
person licensed, certified, or registered by a health care
regulatory agency of this state; and
(2) with the intent to obtain professional employment
for the person or for another, provides or knowingly permits to be
provided to an individual who has not sought the person's
employment, legal representation, advice, or care, a written
communication or a solicitation, including a solicitation in
person, [or] by telephone, through a direct message on a social
media platform, or by another electronic communication that:
(A) concerns an action for personal injury or
wrongful death or otherwise relates to an accident or disaster
involving the person to whom the communication or solicitation is
provided or a relative of that person and that was provided before
the 31st day after the date on which the accident or disaster
occurred;
(B) concerns a specific matter and relates to
legal representation and the person knows or reasonably should know
that the person to whom the communication or solicitation is
directed is represented by a lawyer in the matter;
(C) concerns a lawsuit of any kind, including an
action for divorce, in which the person to whom the communication or
solicitation is provided is a defendant or a relative of that
person, unless the lawsuit in which the person is named as a
defendant has been on file for more than 31 days before the date on
which the communication or solicitation was provided;
(D) is provided or permitted to be provided by a
person who knows or reasonably should know that the injured person
or relative of the injured person has indicated a desire not to be
contacted by or receive communications or solicitations concerning
employment;
(E) involves coercion, duress, fraud,
overreaching, harassment, intimidation, or undue influence; or
(F) contains a false, fraudulent, misleading,
deceptive, or unfair statement or claim.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
this Act if any element of the offense was committed before that
date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.