Bogus nonlawyer firms targeting young lawyers via Craigslist ads.

Careful! That job lead you found on Craigslist from firms looking for part-time coverage attorneys to help in foreclosure matters may just land you in hot water.

A number of nonlawyer entities in South Florida are posing as law firms and offering young, inexperienced lawyers jobs involving loan modifications, short sales, and other foreclosure-related rescue services on behalf of distressed homeowners, said Will Spillias, the Bar's UPL counsel in Tallahassee.

The problem is it's a scam.

These nefarious nonlawyer entities are just looking for Florida lawyers to front their phony firms.

Spillias said the Bar has identified a number of unsuspecting young lawyers who thought they were signing up for part-time work and suddenly--and without their consent--found themselves as attorney of record in hundreds of cases or listed with the state as corporate directors for multiple entities.

"They hold themselves out as law firms and then rope in these attorneys to give a face to these groups of nonattorneys so they look legitimate; then they rope in their customers," Spillias said.

The bogus nonlawyer firms generate income by soliciting advance attorneys' fees from distressed homeowners for foreclosure defense work, said Shanell Schuyler, director of the Bar's Attorney Consumer Assistance Program.

"There is no question that economic _ factors and stiff job market competition have fueled the success of these nonlawyer entities and their scams on consumers and our members," Schuyler said. "However, taking a job with one of these nonlawyer entities may subject the lawyer to discipline. Lawyers need to be vigilant when it comes to compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct."

It is a violation of Bar rules to directly or indirectly divide fees with a nonlawyer or assist in the unauthorized practice of law by:

* Providing legal services for a distressed homeowner while employed as in-house counsel for a nonlawyer company;

* Forming a company with a nonlawyer to perform foreclosure-related services if any of the services are the practice of law; or

* Assisting a nonlawyer individual or company in providing services that the individual or company is not authorized to provide or are otherwise illegal.

A Bar Ethics Alert titled "Providing Legal Services to Distressed Homeowners" can be found on the Bar's website at www. floridabar.org.

Spillias said often young lawyers interview after answering a Craigslist ad, get hired on...