SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS TO THE NORTH DAKOTA ADMISSION TO PRACTICE RULES
Throughout the Rules the word attorney was changed to lawyer to conform with the N.D.R. Prof. Conduct, N.D.R. Lawyer Discipl. and N.D. Stds. Imposing Lawyer Sanctions. The exception is where the phrase attorney and counselor at law appears. This is a phrase used in statute N.D.C.C. § 27-11-01. Note: Rule 3.2 was adopted, effective March 1, 2012, and uses the term lawyer.(A)(1)(b)(6) Requires the contact information for the nonresident lawyer which will enable the Board staff to correspond directly with the nonresident lawyer, if necessary.Rule 3.1 - Authorization to Practice Law for Attorneys Volunteering with Approved Legal Services Organization
(B)(1)(a)(5) A lawyer who registers as “in-house counsel” is required to be otherwise eligible to be admitted in the state. One of our requirements is a Juris Doctor degree from an ABA accredited, or provisionally approved for accreditation, law school. Some states do not have this requirement, therefore, requiring that information in the affidavit will enable the Board to readily determine if the lawyer is otherwise eligible to be admitted in North Dakota.
(E) The citation to Section B(2)(d) was an error.Rule 6 - Admission by Bar Examination
(G) Limits the number of times a person may sit for the North Dakota bar examination to 6 without further permission from the Board.Rule 6.1 -Temporary License of Attorneys Applying for Admission
(H) Moves identical language from Rule 10(B)(1) for clarity.
(A)(1)(a) Permits a lawyer previously admitted in North Dakota, who has not been licensed for more than a year in this state, is a member in good standing of another jurisdiction, and who has an application for relicensure pending, as someone who is eligible to be temporarily licensed.Rule 7 - Admission by Motion
(A)(2) Prohibits someone who has failed the North Dakota bar examination in the past 3 years, regardless of whether that person is a member in good standing in another jurisdiction, from being temporarily licensed. The person has already shown, to some extent, their ineligibility for licensure in the state.
(B)(1) Consistent with proposed amendment in Rule 6.1(A)(2).
(F)(4)(8) and (9) Consistent with proposed amendments in Rule 6.1(A)(2) and (B)(1).
(F) The paragraph after proposed (9), limits the necessity of the Board to notify the Disciplinary Board when a temporary license has been revoked to those where there is evidence of professional misconduct. Failing the bar examination or failing to take the bar examination only in rare instance may violate the Rules of Professional Conduct.
(A)(1)(c)(3) and (4) The elimination of the term “full-time” is consistent with the remainder of the Rule. The Rule permits the Board to go behind all law-related employment to conclude whether someone can demonstrate competency in the practice of law.Rule 8 - Licensure of Inactive Attorneys
(A)(2)(b) This will enable the Board to obtain more complete information from a previous admitting authority.
(A)(2)(e) This will enable the Board to obtain a complete disciplinary history not just disbarment or suspension proceedings. Additionally, the current rule forecloses any lawyer who has been previously suspended or disbarred in another jurisdiction from applying to North Dakota regardless of rehabilitation.
(A)(2)(g) Increases the amount of time in which to verify CLE hours to all for other jurisdictions’ CLE reporting deadlines, and allows for more precise counting. See also proposed amendments to Rule 8 (A)(1)(a)(b) and (c).
(B)(1)(d) and (2) Removes the requirement of admission in the UBE jurisdiction where the exam was written before applying based on test score in North Dakota. Allows for more portability of the UBE score.
(A)(1)(a)(b) and (c) Increases the amount of time in which to verify CLE hours to all for other jurisdictions’ CLE reporting deadlines, and allows for more precise counting. See also proposed amendments to Rule 7(A)(2)(g).Rule 10 - Review Procedures
(A)(1)(d) Provides what the Board currently requires of a previously admitted attorney who is not licensed because of CLE requirements. This replaces the language stricken in Rule 8(B)(4).
(A)(1)(3) Provides for proof of reimbursement of client protection funds paid due to the lawyer’s conduct. A corresponding similar amendment should be made in the Rule 4.5 of the North Dakota Rules for Lawyer Discipline.
(D) Correction of an obvious error.
(B)(1) The stricken out language was moved to Rule 6(H).Rule 13 -Public Records
(B)(1)(a) Any type of regarding of failing answers once results are announced is not conducive to maintaining consistency with the standards applied during the original grading, and is not likely to produce psychometrically sound scores.
(B)(2) These proposed amendments are consistent with limiting the review to issues not having to do with regrading the exam.
(C)(1) and (2) These proposed amendments bring more structure to the review procedures before the Court, and are not inconsistent with current practice.
(F) UBE jurisdictions are required to report the scores, together with personally identifying information, to the National Conference of Bar Examiners as the central repository for the scores, and the official reporter of scores between jurisdictions. The cross reference program can be helpful in character and fitness investigations.
(G) The amendments allows law schools to receive more score information for their graduates, which will be used to enhance academic support programs. Failing applicant’s receive individual MEE and MPT scores, the coverted written score, the MBE score, and the final UBE score.