News Release: Supreme Court Approves New Rules on Multijurisdictional Practice


Release Date: April 8, 2004	Release Number: 19

Supreme Court Approves New Rules on Multijurisdictional Practice

San Francisco—The California Supreme Court today announced that it has adopted the recommendations of the court’s Multijurisdictional Practice Implementation Committee. The new rules will permit the limited practice of law in California by attorneys licensed to practice only in other jurisdictions. In-house counsel, legal services attorneys, litigation attorneys in California in anticipation of litigation or in connection with litigation elsewhere, and non-litigation attorneys temporarily in California will be covered by the rules.

The Multijurisdictional Practice Implementation Committee, chaired by San Francisco attorney Raymond Marshall, was appointed by the court to develop rules concerning four areas of practice, building upon the work of the original Multijurisdictional Practice Task Force. The Task Force recommended the development of rules setting forth the scope of the permissible practice of law in California by attorneys not licensed in California be adopted.

The Task Force did not recommend that the court adopt a system of either reciprocity or comity, which would substantially expand the ability of out-of-state lawyers to practice in California. Reciprocity would permit attorneys licensed in other states to practice in California without qualifying for admission in California if the state in which they were licensed permitted California attorneys to practice there. Comity would permit attorneys licensed to practice in other states to practice in California without regard to the other licensing state’s treatment of California attorneys. The Committee limited its focus to developing rules for registration of certain categories of lawyers, and defining “safe harbors” for other practitioners, in conformance with the Task Force’s recommendations.

For in-house and legal services counsel, the court adopted the Committee’s recommendation that a registration system be established that will permit attorneys in these two categories, once registered, to practice in California to the extent specified in each rule. For litigation attorneys in California in contemplation of litigation, and non-litigation attorneys temporarily in California, the court adopted the Committee’s recommendations to create “safe harbors” defining when and to what extent attorneys in these categories who are not licensed to practice in California may provide legal services in California without engaging in the unauthorized practice of law. The court adopted new rules recommended by the Committee to implement these recommendations.

The Committee held several meetings to craft appropriate rules, circulated draft rules for public comment, and made revisions in response to the comments received. The report and recommendations of the Committee were contained in a report authored by Professor Joshua P. Davis, the Committee’s Reporter, and presented to the Supreme Court.

The new rules expressly require that those taking advantage of them agree to be subject to the jurisdiction of the State Bar of California. In addition to recommending that new rules be adopted, the Committee also recommended that the court create a group to monitor multijurisdictional practice in California and nationally in order to assess the impact of the various rules, and that the court confer with the State Bar to set an effective date for the proposed rules to be effective and to determine whether any additional statutory or rule changes are necessary to implement the adoption of the rules.

After consultation with the State Bar concerning the amount of time the State Bar will need to create the necessary implementation mechanisms, the court has directed the State Bar to develop all necessary procedures within its area of responsibility so that the new rules may be put into effect on November 15, 2004. The court will appoint a committee to monitor the effect of the rules and other developments in multi-jurisdictional practice nationwide by the beginning of 2005.

The complete report and recommendations of the committee as well as the rules approved by the Supreme Court are available on the California Courts Web site at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/supreme/comm. Copies of the new rules are also attached. Questions about the report and the Committee’s process may be directed to Susan Goins, Office of the General Counsel, Administrative Office of the Courts, 455 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco 94102; susan.goins@jud.ca.gov.

Information about the implementation procedures will appear on the Bar’s Web site (http://www.calbar.ca.gov) as they are developed. The Office of Certification at the State Bar will be overseeing the process. Phyllis Culp, Director of the Office of Certification, may be reached at Phyllis.Culp@calbar.ca.gov.