§ 1297.186.Provision of Services In International Commercial Arbitration Or Related Conciliation, Mediation, Or Alternative Dispute Resolution Proceeding
Title 9.3. Arbitration and Conciliation of International Commercial Disputes · Chapter 5. Manner and Conduct of Arbitration · Article 1.5. Representation by Foreign and Out-of-State Attorneys · Enacted 2018 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 1297.186 lets a qualified attorney provide legal services in an international commercial arbitration or related ADR proceeding under any of several listed conditions, carving out consumer, healthcare, and most California-employment disputes and leaving California attorneys' own rights untouched.
(a)Notwithstanding any other law, including Section 6125 of the Business and Professions Code, a qualified attorney may provide legal services in an international commercial arbitration or related conciliation, mediation, or alternative dispute resolution proceeding, if any of the following conditions is satisfied:
(1)The services are undertaken in association with an attorney who is admitted to practice in this state and who actively participates in the matter.
(2)The services arise out of or are reasonably related to the attorney's practice in a jurisdiction in which the attorney is admitted to practice.
(3)The services are performed for a client who resides in or has an office in the jurisdiction in which the attorney is admitted or otherwise authorized to practice.
(4)The services arise out of or are reasonably related to a matter that has a substantial connection to a jurisdiction in which the attorney is admitted or otherwise authorized to practice.
(5)The services arise out of a dispute governed primarily by international law or the law of a foreign or out-of-state jurisdiction.
(b)This section does not apply to a dispute or controversy concerning any of the following:
(1)An individual's acquisition or lease of goods or services primarily for personal, family, or household use.
(2)An individual's coverage under a health insurance plan or an interaction between an individual and a healthcare provider.
(3)An application for employment in California.
(4)The terms and conditions of, or right to, employment in California, unless the dispute or controversy primarily concerns intellectual property rights, including those involving trademarks, patents, copyright, and software programs.
(c)This section does not affect the right of an attorney admitted to practice law in this state to provide legal services in an international commercial arbitration or related conciliation, mediation, or alternative dispute resolution proceeding, or the right of representation established in Section 1297.351.
Plain-English Summary
This section is the practical heart of the article: it tells a qualified attorney, defined in Section 1297.185, when representing a client in a California-seated international arbitration will not run afoul of the state's unauthorized-practice-of-law rules. The attorney can provide legal services in an international commercial arbitration or a related conciliation, mediation, or other alternative dispute resolution proceeding if any one of five conditions is met: working alongside a California-admitted attorney who actively participates; the services growing out of or reasonably relating to the attorney's own practice where admitted; the client residing or having an office in the attorney's home jurisdiction; the services relating to a matter substantially connected to the attorney's home jurisdiction; or the dispute being governed primarily by international law or the law of another jurisdiction. Only one of these has to apply -- they are not cumulative requirements.
The section then narrows its own reach. It does not cover disputes over an individual's personal, family, or household purchases of goods or services; health-insurance coverage or interactions with a healthcare provider; applications for California employment; or the terms of California employment itself, unless that employment dispute is primarily about intellectual-property rights such as trademarks, patents, copyrights, or software. Those categories stay outside this permission regardless of which of the five conditions might otherwise be met.
Finally, nothing here cuts back what a California-licensed attorney can already do in these proceedings, or what Section 1297.351 already permits for representation in conciliation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a qualified attorney have to satisfy every listed condition to provide services here?
No -- only one of the listed conditions has to be met.
Can a qualified attorney represent a consumer in a dispute over household goods under this section?
No -- disputes over an individual's personal, family, or household acquisition of goods or services fall outside this section's coverage.
What about a California employment dispute?
Generally excluded, unless the dispute is primarily about intellectual-property rights such as trademarks, patents, copyrights, or software.
Does this section limit what a California-licensed attorney can do?
No -- it does not affect a California attorney's own right to provide these services, or the representation rights already given under Section 1297.351.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as:foreign attorney international arbitration california conditionsunauthorized practice of law exception arbitration