M E M O
TO: Joint Procedure Committee
FROM: Gerhard Raedeke
RE: N.D.R.Ct. 11.1; Nonresident Attorneys
At the last meeting, the Committee approved a request from the State Bar Board for amendments to N.D.R.Ct. 11.1, governing the appearance of a non-admitted, non-resident attorney in a North Dakota state court proceeding. The amendments create a motion procedure and a fee requirement for obtaining permission to appear.
The amendments to the rule were approved by a two-thirds vote. However, the Committee asked for additional work on the explanatory note.
The proposed explanatory note defines what constitutes an appearance and limits the rule's applicability to state trial court proceedings. The explanatory note also clarifies an attorney does not need to request permission to take a deposition within the state of North Dakota for an action pending in another jurisdiction.
Additional amendments are proposed in the rule to accommodate the additions to the explanatory note. An exception is made to the rule's requirement for a nonresident attorney to first obtain permission from the court before appearing. When the nonresident attorney appears by signing or otherwise being designated as counsel on a pleading, the amended rule gives the nonresident attorney 45 days to file a motion for permission to appear. The exception is made because the action needs to be filed before the nonresident attorney can file a motion requesting permission.
The rule is also amended to make it clear a nonresident attorney may only be permitted to appear in an occasional action. An additional amendment requires the nonresident attorney to state in an affidavit the number of actions in which the nonresident attorney has appeared in a North Dakota state court proceeding during the prior three years.