Local Rule 181: CERTIFIED STUDENTS

RULE 181 (Fed. R. Civ. P. 83)

CERTIFIED STUDENTS

(a) Definitions.

(1) "Certified Student" means a law student who has been certified by the Clerk pursuant to this Rule.

(2) "Dean" means the Dean or the Dean's specially designated representative at the law school in which the student is enrolled or from which the student has graduated.

(3) "Supervising Attorney" means an attorney admitted to the Bar of this Court who satisfies the requirements of (e).

(4) "Accredited law school" means a law school accredited by the State Bar of California or the American Bar Association. Upon application and a showing of good cause therefor, the Chief Judge shall have sole discretion to determine that a student from a law school not qualifying under the foregoing accreditation requirement may be a Certified Student under this Rule.

(b) Eligibility for Certification. To engage in the activities permitted under this Rule, a Certified Student must:

(1) either have successfully completed one year of full-time studies at an accredited law school or have passed the First Year Law Student's Examination;

(2) be currently enrolled in an accredited law school in good academic standing, subject to the normal hiatus between quarters or semesters, or have graduated from an accredited law school but subject to the limitations of (g)(4);

(3) either have successfully completed or be currently enrolled in academic courses that provide training in both evidence and civil procedure, unless otherwise specifically ordered by the Chief Judge upon application on good cause shown;

(4) have submitted an Application for Certification to the Clerk; and

(5) have received a Notice of Certification from the Clerk.

(c) Application for Certification. Law students shall apply for certification on a form to be furnished by and filed with the Clerk accompanied by the prescribed filing fee. Applications for Certification shall provide for signatures and attestations as follows:

(1) Law students shall attest that:

(A) they have read, are familiar with, and will abide by the Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of California and these Rules;

(B) they meet all the requirements of (b)(1), (2), and (3), or anticipate satisfaction of those requirements in the normal course of events; and

(C) they shall immediately notify the Clerk upon failing to meet the requirements of (b)(1) or upon ceasing to meet the requirements of (b)(2).

(2) Deans shall attest that:

(A) they are the Deans or have been specifically designated by the Dean to administer the law school's practical training program;

(B) the named law students meet the requirements of (b)(1), (2) and (3) or satisfaction of those requirements is anticipated in the normal course of events; and

(C) they have no knowledge of facts or information that might disqualify the law students from participation in the activities permitted by this Rule.

(3) Supervising Attorneys shall specify the period during which they will be responsible for and will supervise the law student and shall attest that each Supervising Attorney:

(A) meets the requirements of (e)(1), and

(B) has read, is familiar with, and will abide by and will assume full responsibility under the requirements of (e)(2) through (8).

(d) Permitted Activities.

(1) A Certified Student may engage in the activities permitted hereunder only if the client on whose behalf the student is to act has approved in writing on a Consent Form available from the Clerk the performance of such acts by such Certified Student. The term "client" shall mean the individual client, the corporate officer or other similar individual authorized to act on behalf of a nongovernmental entity, or the government attorney or other appropriate legal officer authorized to act on behalf of a government agency, as the case may be.

(2) Except as permitted in (d)(3), a Certified Student may engage in the following activities on behalf of a nongovernmental client only with the approval and under the direct and immediate supervision and in the personal presence of the Supervising Attorney or the Supervising Attorney's designee:

(A) appearing at or taking depositions on behalf of the client; and

(B) appearing on behalf of the client in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding before any Judge, Magistrate Judge, or special master of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, but only to the extent approved by such Judge, Magistrate Judge, or special master.

(3) A Certified Student may appear in any action on behalf of a government agency or on behalf of the Office of the Federal Defender in the prosecution or defense of misdemeanors, but only subject to approval by the Judge or Magistrate Judge presiding at the hearing or trial in such action, without the personal appearance of the Supervising Attorney, but only if the Supervising Attorney or the Supervising Attorney's designee shall be available by telephone or otherwise to advise the Certified Student.

(4) A Certified Student may engage in the following acts on behalf of a government agency as a representative of that agency without the personal appearance of the Supervising Attorney, but only if the Supervising Attorney or the Supervising Attorney's designee is available by telephone or otherwise to advise the Certified Student:

(A) appearing at or taking depositions on behalf of the agency;

(B) appearing on behalf of the agency in any noncriminal trial hearing, or other proceeding, before any Judge, Magistrate Judge, or special master of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, but only to the extent approved by such Judge, Magistrate Judge, or special master;

(C) appearing in any proceeding in actions brought under Title 42 of the United States Code to review a final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security;

(D) appearing in any proceeding in actions brought to enforce Internal Revenue Service summonses filed pursuant to 26 U.S.C. §§ 7402(b) and 7604(a), and/or actions to quash administrative summonses filed pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 7609(b)(2);

(E) appearing in any proceeding in actions to enforce collection on promissory notes involving federally insured loans and direct federal loans in which the prayer for relief is less than $25,000;

(F) appearing in any proceeding in actions to enforce cease and desist orders issued by the National Labor Relations Board;

(G) appearing in any proceeding in actions to enforce civil penalties assessed under 46 U.S.C. §§ 2302, 4311(d), and/or 12309(c); and

(H) appearing in any proceeding in petitions for writs, or actions seeking relief under the Federal Civil Rights Act by incarcerated persons acting in propria persona.

(5) In all instances in which, under these Rules, a Certified Student is permitted to appear in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding before any Judge, Magistrate Judge, or special master of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, the Certified Student shall, as a condition to such appearance, cause the filing of the Consent Form or present the Consent Form for filing to the Judge, Magistrate Judge, or special master.

(6) Certified Students whose Supervising Attorneys are not governmental attorneys or attorneys acting full-time on behalf of the Office of the Federal Defender shall satisfy not only the requirements of this Rule, but also the requirements imposed by the State Bar of California Rules Governing the Practical Training of Law Students, as those Rules may be amended from time to time.

(7) Nothing in this Rule shall prevent a student, certified or uncertified, from performing any advisory or representational activity that a person who is not admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California could lawfully perform.

(e) Supervising Attorney. The Supervising Attorney shall:

(1) be admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California;

(2) supervise no more than twelve (12) Certified Students concurrently, provided, however, that this limitation on supervision may be modified by the Chief Judge upon application and showing of good cause therefor;

(3) assume personal professional responsibility for any work performed by the Certified Student while under the attorney's supervision;

(4) assist and counsel with the Certified Student in the activities permitted under this Rule and review such activities with the Certified Student;

(5) read, approve, and sign any pleadings, briefs or other papers prepared by the Certified Student before the filing thereof, provided, however, that this requirement shall not apply to (i) amendments to accusatory pleadings; (ii) papers other than pleadings and briefs filed by a Certified Student whose Supervising Attorney is a member of the United States Attorney's Office; (iii) papers other than pleadings and briefs filed by a Certified Student whose Supervising Attorney is a member of the Federal Defender's Office; or (iv) pleadings and briefs filed in a Magistrate Judge's Court in a county other than Sacramento or Fresno by a Certified Student whose Supervising Attorney is a member of the United States Attorney's Office and whose Supervising Attorney has approved the pleading or brief after hearing it read over the telephone and authorizing the filing thereof;

(6) provide the required supervision of the Certified Student for the activities listed in this Rule;

(7) assign full responsibility for supervision to another designated attorney qualified to serve as a Supervising Attorney under this Rule in any instance in which the Supervising Attorney is to be unavailable; and

(8) notify the Clerk promptly in writing whenever the attorney's supervision of the Certified Student will cease without a written substitution of another qualified Supervising Attorney being filed.

(f) Use of the Designation "Certified Student." A Certified Student may be designated as such on pleadings, briefs, letters on the Supervising Attorney's letterhead, and other documents on which the Certified Student has worked with or under the supervision and direction of the Supervising Attorney, by placing the Certified Student's name thereon with the words "Certified Student" immediately thereunder.

(g) Duration of Certification. Certification shall commence with the issuance by the Clerk of a Notice of Certification and shall remain in effect for the period specified in the Notice of Certification unless sooner terminated by the earliest of the following occurrences, absent relief from such termination granted by the Chief Judge:

(1) the Supervising Attorney terminates supervision of the Certified Student without a written substitution of another qualified Supervising Attorney on a form provided by and filed with the Clerk;

(2) the Certified Student ceases to be enrolled in an accredited law school before graduation therefrom, excepting the normal hiatus between quarters or semesters;

(3) the Dean notifies the Clerk that the Certified Student should be disqualified from participation in the activities permitted by this Rule;

(4) the Certified Student fails to take or is notified of a failure to pass the first California General Bar Examination after the Certified Student's graduation from law school; or

(5) certification is withdrawn by the Chief Judge. Upon the happening of any of the occurrences listed in (1), (3) or (5), the Clerk shall send Notice of Withdrawal of Certification to the Certified Student, the Supervising Attorney, and the Dean, which Notice shall set forth the reasons for the termination of Certified Student status.

(h) Rights Upon Withdrawal of Certification. If certification is withdrawn under (g)(3) or (5), the termination shall be effective fourteen (14) days from the date on which the Clerk transmits the Notice of Withdrawal of Certification. Upon receipt of such Notice, the Certified Student may present a request for a stay of the termination pending hearing, which the Chief Judge may allow only upon good cause shown. The Certified Student may contest the termination by a request to the Chief Judge, presented within fourteen (14) days of the transmission of the Notice of Withdrawal of Certification, for a hearing to show cause why certification should not be terminated. Hearing on such request shall be commenced within twenty-one (21) days following receipt of such request, unless the time for such hearing be extended by the Chief Judge upon a showing of good cause. The Chief Judge may assign responsibility for the conduct of the proceedings under this subsection to any Judge.