A PLAN TO allow admission to the New Hampshire Bar without taking the bar exam is moving closer to approval. The proposal, slightly revised following a public hearing in June, has been proposed for adoption by the NH Supreme Court Rules Advisory Committee with a public comment period ending Sept. 30, 2002. (See the July 25, 2002 Supreme Court Orders on the court’s Web page at http://www.state.nh.us/courts/supreme/orders/2002002.htm.)

The admission-by-waiver proposal has encountered little opposition and has been applauded by many New Hampshire Bar members, as well as attorneys from neighboring states. Some New Hampshire attorneys support the proposal because it will move our state into the ranks of those offering reciprocal admission. Supreme Court Associate Justice Linda S. Dalianis, who has championed the proposal, said it recognizes the realities of contemporary law practice that increasingly occur across state lines, and would allow the court to better regulate cross-border practice.

However, NH attorneys do concede that it may change the complexion of practice in the courts in which they regularly appear, and may affect their client base. Nashua Bar Association President Andrea Amodeo-Vickery, who concentrates on plaintiff’s personal injury and criminal defense work, supports the idea, but knows there will be some adverse impacts. "Surely, there is a concern that there will be a lot of Massachusetts lawyers waiving in who are not going to know the laws or rules of procedure in our courts," she said.

The rule does require that lawyers admitted on motion without exam must complete the Practical Skills course now required of new admittees. However, this will not ensure continuing education on New Hampshire law, since NHMCLE requirements do not require attorneys to take courses based on New Hampshire law to fulfill MCLE requirements. (The NHMCLE board accredits courses offered by many out-of-state or national CLE providers.)

Bernard H. Campbell, of Beaumont & Campbell in Salem, said he hasn’t studied the admission-by-motion proposal, but expressed some fatalism about the prospect, since many Massachusetts lawyers already are active in his area of practice: transactional work and real estate. "The problem is going to be, do they know the law? I see all kinds of examples now of New Hampshire deeds with problems because they were written by out-of-state lawyers," he said.

Amodeo-Vickery said that in her criminal practice, she represents many Massachusetts residents arrested in New Hampshire on DUI or other charges. If the proposal passes, she may lose some of those clients to Massachusetts attorneys admitted under the rule – but she would also have an equal opportunity to be admitted to the Massachusetts Bar and to represent NH clients arrested over the border. More important, said Amodeo-Vickery, is an attorney’s ability to attract and retain clients based on his or her reputation and ability to get results. "I have a reputation and I’m not afraid of competition," she said. "Some clients are going to evaluate whether they are going to do better by hiring an attorney who is familiar with the courts in the area."

Stanley Griffith, vice president and associate general counsel for Fidelity Investments Money Management, Inc., based in Merrimack, NH, spoke in favor of the proposal at the Rules Committee public hearing. He said allowing the waiver option would allow attorneys who work in corporate settings to forego taking bar exams, which encompass many areas of the law that they will never cover. The proposal also recognizes the mobile nature of society and the business world, he said.

Griffith, an active member of the NHBA, said he is impressed by the congenial nature of the New Hampshire Bar. "It’s a place where people help each other out, and it is very strong in encouraging professionalism." He acknowledged that by allowing out-of-state attorneys to waive into the NH Bar, "it’s going to take some work" to preserve that environment, but believes that the easing of admission requirements represented by the creation of an admission-by-motion option won’t bring in a flood of attorneys from other states who will alter the NH Bar’s essential character.

One provision, paralleling a reciprocal arrangement in Vermont, allows for a lower experience threshold of "no less than three years" immediately preceding the date of application for admission to New Hampshire.

Meanwhile, on the national scene, the ABA Commission on Multi-jurisdictional Practice presented its final draft of recommendations for debate by the ABA House of Delegates in early August. The recommendations create a "safe harbor" for corporate counsel or attorneys doing work in other states that is "reasonably related to the lawyer’s practice in a jurisdiction in which the lawyer is admitted to practice." The MJP Commission in its report said it sought "the proper balance between the interests of a state in protecting its residents and justice system, on the one hand, and the interests of clients in a national and international economy in the ability to employ or retain counsel of choice efficiently and economically."

The MJP Commission abandoned an approach taken in an earlier draft that created specific exceptions to limits on attorneys practicing in other jurisdictions. The MJP Commission continued to endorse state-by-state judicial regulation of the practice of law.

As of early August, the proposal had been endorsed by several ABA sections and state bars. Check out the ABA Commission’s Web site at http://www.abanet.org/cpr/mjp-home.html.

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