§ 84-5.1. Rendering of legal services by certain nonprofit corporations.
§ 84‑5.1. Rendering oflegal services by certain nonprofit corporations.
(a) Subject to therules and regulations of the North Carolina State Bar, as approved by theSupreme Court of North Carolina, a nonprofit corporation, tax exempt under 26U.S.C. § 501(c)(3), organized or authorized under Chapter 55A of the GeneralStatutes of North Carolina and operating as a public interest law firm asdefined by the applicable Internal Revenue Service guidelines or for theprimary purpose of rendering indigent legal services, may render such servicesprovided by attorneys duly licensed to practice law in North Carolina, for thepurposes for which the nonprofit corporation was organized. The nonprofitcorporation must have a governing structure that does not permit an individualor group of individuals other than an attorney duly licensed to practice law inNorth Carolina to control the manner or course of the legal services renderedand must continually satisfy the criteria established by the Internal RevenueService for 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) status, whether or not any action has beentaken to revoke that status.
(b) In no instance maylegal services rendered by a nonprofit corporation under subsection (a) of thissection be conditioned upon the purchase or payment for any product, good, orservice other than the legal service rendered. (1977, c. 841, s. 1; 2009‑231, s. 1.)