What is the definition of practicing law without a license in California?

In response to your question on what constitutes practicing law without a license in California, in its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professional services of a lawyer or attorney at law, barrister, solicitor, or civil law notary.

I spend a good part of my early law career in bringing the issue of Unauthorized Practice of Law in Southern California to the forefront in the media and with the LA District Attorney's Office and the State Bar of California. Here is the Los Angeles District Attorney's Prosecutor's Manual on the topic of UPL: http://da.co.la.ca.us/pdf/UPLpublic.pdf

It is a very difficult determination. Most UPL prosecutions and accusations turn on facts of the accused inaccurately holding him or herself out as a lawyer. That's the easy case. With a layperson not misrepresenting, even judges have a very difficult time defining and recognizing UPL -- especially when it comes to assignments like traffic court, small claims, and pro per parties in civil court. Once you add in administrative law, and the endless variety of assessment appeals, business tax hearings, license revocations, school disciplinary hearings, and a million other kinds of administrative proceedings, the proscribed conduct is wholly beyond straight-forward definition. And then you consider proceedings like neighborhood and consumer mediations...