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Amend HB 148 (House engrossment) as follows:                                 
	(1)  In SECTION 2 of the bill, strike "The change in law made 
by this Act applies" and substitute "Section 38.12(d), Penal Code, 
as amended by this Act,".
	(2)  Add the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to 
the bill and renumber existing SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
	SECTION ____.  Subchapter C, Chapter 82, Government Code, is 
amended by adding Section 82.067 to read as follows:
	Sec. 82.067.  CLIENT CAUSE OF ACTION.  (a) A client may bring 
a civil action against any person who knowingly engages in conduct 
prohibited by:
		(1)  the following sections of the Penal Code:                         
			(A)  Section 38.12 (Barratry and Solicitation of 
Professional Employment);
			(B)  Section 38.122 (Falsely Holding Oneself Out 
as a Lawyer); or   
			(C)  Section 38.123 (Unauthorized Practice of 
Law); or              
		(2)  Rule 8.04 (a)(9), Texas Disciplinary Rules of 
Professional Conduct.
	(b)  A client who prevails in an action under this section 
may recover the following as damages:
		(1)  all amounts paid to or received by the person as a 
result of the conduct on which the cause of action is based;
		(2)  at the discretion of the fact-finder and as a 
penalty based on the severity of the wrongful conduct, up to an 
additional two times the amounts paid to or received by the person 
as a result of such conduct;
		(3)  reasonable and necessary attorney's fees and court 
costs incurred by the client in the action; and
		(4)  prejudgment and post-judgment interest as 
provided by law.      
	(c)  The standard of proof for proving a cause of action 
under this section shall be by a preponderance of the evidence.
	(d)  For the purposes of this section, a person acts 
"knowingly" when the person has actual awareness of the nature of 
the person's conduct or that the circumstances exist, or has actual 
awareness that the person's conduct is reasonably certain to cause 
the result. For the purposes of this section, "actual awareness" 
may be inferred where objective manifestations indicate that a 
person acted with actual awareness.
	SECTION ____.  Section 82.067, Government Code, as added by 
this Act, applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after 
the effective date of this Act.  A cause of action that accrues 
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in 
effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that 
law is continued in effect for that purpose.