MJP is a dangerous concept. If I, as a lawyer admitted in Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Alaska, for example, were to file a standard Motion to Dismiss as is used in Florida in lieu of an answer in Court in Georgia, my client would suffer a default judgment. Likewise, if I were - in Florida - to file an answer on the 45 th day from service and tender the $65 filing fee, as is common in Georgia, my client would suffer a default judgment.
At the same time that the ABA has "it" wrong regarding MJP, it also has it wrong (2 for 2) regarding MDP: MDP is a reality and, in this borderless world (I have an office in Anchorage Alaska that I visit only a couple of times a year and which is not staffed; my "secretary" is a service in Bombay India; my largest client until recently was a European entity the principals of which I had never met; and I run my international practice from a notebook PC and a Palm Phone from the remote wilds of the Cohutta Wilderness) MDP, when needed, will occur. I have an MBA and 45 college hours' accounting courses so, with some effort, I could qualify to take the CPA exam. But I would rather joint venture with an offshore CPA in an offshore practice - should a number of my clients need it - than to suffer from the 19 th century mentality that pervaded your MDP committee.
So, consistency is a virtue. Consistent error, however, is not.
John Longino