Bar News - August 16, 2002
Admission-by-Waiver Proposal Highlights
Admission by Waiver Proposal Highlights
10) (a) An applicant who is domiciled in the United States, is of the age of 18 years, and meets the following requirements may, upon motion, be admitted to the practice of law without taking and passing the New Hampshire bar examination. The applicant shall:
Have been admitted by bar examination to practice law in another state, territory, or the District of Columbia; Have graduated from a law school approved by the American Bar Association having a three (3) year course and requiring students to devote substantially all their working time to study, called a full-time law school; from a law school approved by the American Bar Association having a course of not less than four (4) school years equivalent in the number of working hours to a three (3) year course in a full-time law school and in which students devote only part of their working time to their studies, called a part-time law school; or from a law school in an English-speaking, common law country having pursued a course of study substantially equivalent to that of a law school approved by the American Bar Association. A combination of study in full-time and part-time law schools will be accepted only if such law schools meet the above requirements, and the applicant shall have graduated from one or the other. Study in any law school which conducts its courses by correspondence or does not require attendance of its students at its lectures or classes shall not constitute compliance with the rule; Have been primarily engaged in the active practice of law in one or more states, territories, or the District of Columbia for five of the seven years immediately preceding the date upon which the motion is filed; - Have either:
taken and passed the bar examination in another state, territory, or the District of Columbia that allows admission without examination of persons admitted to practice law in New Hampshire under circumstances comparable to those set forth in this rule; or been primarily engaged in the active practice of law in a state, territory, or the District of Columbia for five of the seven years immediately preceding the date upon which the motion is filed that allows admission without examination of persons admitted to practice law in New Hampshire under circumstances comparable to those set forth in this rule;
Produce evidence of satisfactory completion of the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination; Establish that the applicant is currently a member in good standing in all jurisdictions where admitted; Establish that the applicant is not currently subject to lawyer discipline or the subject of a pending disciplinary matter in any jurisdiction; Establish that the applicant possesses the character and fitness to practice law in New Hampshire; and Designate the clerk of the supreme court for service of process.
(b) For the purposes of Rule 42, the "active practice of law" shall include the following activities:
Representation of one or more clients in the private practice of law; Service as a lawyer with a local, state, or federal agency, including military service; Teaching law at a law school approved by the American Bar Association; Service as a judge in a federal, state, or local court of record; Service as a judicial law clerk; or Service as corporate counsel.
(c) For the purposes of Rule 42, the "active practice of law" shall not include work that, as undertaken, constituted the unauthorized practice of law in the jurisdiction in which it was performed or in the jurisdiction in which the clients receiving the unauthorized services were located.
The rule excludes anyone who has failed to pass the NH bar exam from seeking admission by waiver for at least five years.
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