Proposed Model Rule On Admission By Motion Section Of Legal Education And Admissions To The Bar

As Revised by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, December 1, 2001

1.  An applicant who meets the requirements of (a) through (h) of this rule may, upon motion, be admitted to the practice of law in this jurisdiction.

The applicant shall:

1. Have been admitted to practice law in another state, territory, or the District of Columbia;
2. Hold a first professional degree in law (J.D. or LL.B.) from a law school approved by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association at the time the degree was conferred;
3. Have been primarily engaged in the active practice of law in one or more states, territories or the District of Columbia for five of the seven years immediately preceding the date upon which the application is filed;
4. Submit evidence of a passing score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination as it is established in this jurisdiction;
5. Establish that the applicant is currently a member in good standing in all jurisdictions where admitted;
6. Establish that the applicant is not currently subject to lawyer discipline or the subject of a pending disciplinary matter in any other jurisdiction;
7. Establish that the applicant possesses the character and fitness to practice law in this jurisdiction; and
8. Designate the Clerk of the jurisdiction’s highest court for service of process.

2.  For the purposes of this rule, the "active practice of law" shall include the following activities, if preformed in a jurisdiction in which the applicant is admitted, or if performed in a jurisdiction that affirmatively permits such activity by a lawyer not admitted to practice; however, in no event shall activities listed under (2)(e) and (f) that were performed in advance of bar admission in the jurisdiction to which application is being made be accepted toward the durational requirement:

1. Representation of one or more clients in the private practice of law;
2. Service as a lawyer with a local, state, or federal agency, including military service;
3. Teaching law at a law school approved by the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association;
4. Service as a judge in a federal, state, or local court of record;
5. Service as a judicial law clerk; or
6. Service as corporate counsel.

3. For the purposes of this rule, the active practice of law shall not include work that, as undertaken, constituted the unauthorized practice of law in the jurisdiction in which it was performed or in the jurisdiction in which the clients receiving the unauthorized services were located.

4. An applicant who has failed a bar examination administered in this jurisdiction within five years of the date of filing an application under this rule shall not be eligible for admission on motion.