Local Rule LR 83.2.2: Procedure for Admission

LR 83.2.2 Procedure for Admission

(A) Each applicant for admission to the bar of this court must file a written petition signed by him or her and endorsed by two members of the bar of this court listing the applicant's residence and office address, his or her general and legal education, the courts in which he or she is admitted to practice, and stating that the applicant is qualified to practice before this court, is of good moral character, and is not subject to any pending disbarment or professional discipline procedure in any other court. If the applicant has been convicted of a felony or has previously been subject to any disciplinary proceedings, full information about each, including the charges and the result, must be set forth.

(B) An applicant may be admitted in open court or in a judge's chambers, upon taking an oath to conduct himself or herself as an attorney or counselor of this court uprightly and according to law and to support the Constitution of the United States. The attorney must, under the direction of the clerk, sign the roll of attorneys and pay the fee required by law and any other fee required by the court. A motion for admission must be filed within six months of filing of the petition.

(C) Upon written request and for good cause shown, if a personal appearance would present undue hardship for the applicant or the applicant resides outside the boundaries of this district, the court may grant the applicant's request for admission without a personal appearance. In such instance, the applicant must take a written oath, on a form prescribed by the clerk, to conduct himself or herself as an attorney or counselor of this court uprightly and according to law and to support the Constitution of the United States, and submit this written oath with any fee required by law and any other fee required by the court. At the attorney's first physical appearance before the court, he or she must sign the roll of attorneys in the clerk's office.

(D) Every attorney admitted to practice before this court must pay to the clerk of court an annual fee in an amount periodically set by the court en banc and posted for public notice by the clerk of court. The fee will be made part of a fund used to defray the expense of administration and enforcement under the court's Disciplinary Rules and for such other uses and purposes that the court determines appropriate. These fees must be paid triennially not later than March 1 of the calendar year in which such payment is due.

(1) At the time of admission, the attorney must make the initial triennial payment. Such fee will not be prorated within any calendar year, but an attorney first admitted in the second or third year of any triennial period will be required to make proportionate payment only for those years of such period in which the attorney's membership in the bar is effective.

Attorneys admitted pro hac vice must pay a triennial or proportionate fee, unless a similar fee has been paid to another court of the United States and satisfactory evidence thereof has been submitted to the clerk.

(2) Any attorney who fails to pay the fee required under subsection (1) will be summarily suspended, provided a notice of delinquency has been sent to the attorney to the last address appearing in the Roll of Attorneys of the bar of this court at least 35 days before such suspension.

Any attorney suspended under this provision may be reinstated upon payment of the fee.

(E) To facilitate the keeping of an accurate Roll of Attorneys, every attorney subject to these Rules must triennially on or before the first day of March, file with the clerk of this court a registration statement on a form supplied by the clerk setting forth the attorney's current residence and office addresses; his or her Bar Roll number; and the bars of all states, territories, districts, commonwealths, or possessions or other courts of the United States to which the attorney is admitted and the dates of such admissions. In addition, every attorney subject to these Rules must file a supplemental statement of any change in this information previously submitted within 35 days of such change. All persons must file this required registration statement at the time of admission to practice before this court. Upon request, the clerk will provide a certificate of compliance.

(1) Within 35 days of receipt of a statement or supplemental statement and of payment of the aforesaid fee in accordance with the provisions of (A) and (D) above, the clerk must acknowledge receipt thereof in appropriate form so as to enable the attorney, on request, to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of (A) and (D) above.

(2) Any attorney who fails to file the attorney registration statement or supplemental statement as required above will be summarily suspended. A notice of delinquency must be sent to the attorney at the current address appearing in the Roll of Attorneys of the bar of this court at least 35 days before such suspension. The suspension will remain in effect until the attorney has complied with these Rules.

(F) An attorney who has retired or is not engaged in the practice of law before this court may advise the clerk in writing that he or she desires to assume inactive status and discontinue the practice of law before this court. Upon the filing of such a notice, the attorney will no longer be eligible to practice law in this court and will not be obligated for further payment of the fee prescribed herein or for filing the attorney registration statement every three years as required by this Rule for active practitioners.

Upon the filing of a notice to assume inactive status, the attorney will be removed from the roll of active attorneys until and unless he or she requests and is granted reinstatement to the active rolls. Reinstatement to active status may be granted (unless the attorney is then subject to an outstanding order of suspension or disbarment or has been on inactive status for five years or more) upon the payment of any fees due as prescribed by this Rule and the submission of a current registration statement. Reinstatement to active status of an attorney who has been on voluntary inactive status for five years or more will be governed by the provisions of the Disciplinary Rules of this court.

(G) The fees and costs paid pursuant to these Rules will be maintained by the clerk as trustee thereof in separate interest bearing, federally insured accounts with such depositories as the court may from time to time approve or invested in obligations of the United States. Funds so held will be disbursed only pursuant to the orders of the court and at no time will they be deposited into the Treasury of the United States.

[Amended July 17, 2000; October 1, 2003; February 1, 2011]