Rule 2. Character and Fitness Committee
Effective Date: 1/1/2000
Obsolete Date: 8/1/2001
To assist the State Bar Board in conducting such character and fitness investigation as it deems necessary, the Board may appoint a Character and Fitness Committee.
A. The Committee shall consist of five persons no more than three of whom may be lawyers currently licensed to practice law in North Dakota. Committee members shall be appointed to five-year terms from a list of nominees submitted by the State Bar Association on an annual basis. Upon the initial appointment of the Committee, its members shall determine by lot the term length of each member. From its members, on an annual basis, the State Bar Board shall select a Chairperson. Committee members shall serve without compensation except that they shall be reimbursed their actual expenses incurred in attending Committee meetings.
B. The Character and Fitness Committee shall investigate the character, fitness and moral qualifications of a registrant or an applicant for admission upon the request of the State Bar Board. Upon receipt of such a request, accompanied by all information regarding the registrant or applicant as obtained by the Bar Board, the Character and Fitness Committee shall conduct such investigation as it deems necessary in order to report its findings and recommendations to the Bar Board. The Committee shall conduct a personal interview with the registrant or applicant in order to determine whether, considering all information in the possession of the Bar Board, the registrant or applicant possesses the requisite character, fitness and moral qualifications for admission to the Bar.
C. The Character and Fitness Committee shall determine a registrant's or an applicant's character, fitness and moral qualifications in accordance with:
1. The provisions of this Rule.
2. The provisions of Rule 1.A.2.
3. The applicable decisions of the Supreme Court of North Dakota and the Supreme Court of the United States.
D. Upon completion of the investigation the Committee shall submit to the Bar Board its written findings and recommendations concerning the registrant's or applicant's character, fitness and moral qualifications.