Category: -Rules Governing the State Bar

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Rule Governing the Utah State Bar – Comment Period Closed January 29, 2024

MCLE Rule Amendments

Utah Supreme Court Board of Continuing Legal Education

Proposals to move Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Rules from Chapter 14, Article 4 to Chapter 11 in a new Article 6; to repeal Chapter 14, Article 4; to then renumber rules referenced in new Article 6;  Moving the article from the chapter entitled “Rules Governing the Utah State Bar, to the chapter entitled “General Provisions.” will help to clarify the common misunderstanding of who is responsible for the requirements of legal education.  The change will be a good step to help lawyers distinguish the responsibility of the Court from the activities of the Bar.

Article 6; to clarify Board governance and make duties more transparent; The current rule does not include “the Director” in the definitions.  Including the description will help to clarify that the Director is appointed by the Court and is supervised by the Board.

Finalize instruction included in professionalism and civility; and confirm the requirements for Well-being CLE.

Expanding the definition of accredited “Professionalism and civility CLE” to include instruction on Well-being, teaching time and law practice management; incorporating the term “substance use disorder” and permitting learning about diversity, equity and inclusion.

Increasing the time period from six months to twelve months that lawyers and paralegal practitioners may remain on inactive status without complying the annual CLE requirements to ensure that they are completing the hours of required CLE.

Technical amendments to clarify that the total number of Board members is ten, excluding any additional emeritus members; and to formalize that a quorum for taking action is six.

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Rules Governing the Utah State Bar and Rules of Professional Practice – Comment Period Closed June 19, 2023

USB14-0711. Grading and Passing the Bar Examination. AMEND. This proposed rule amendment lowers the passing bar examination score from 270 to 260.

USB14-0712. Qualification for Admission Based on UBE. AMEND. This proposed rule amendment lowers the acceptable transferred Universal Bar Exam score from 270 to 260.

USB14-0207. Finances. AMEND. This rule amendment requires the Utah State Bar to annually submit to the Supreme Court recommendations on increasing, decreasing, or maintaining current licensing fees.

RPP11-0107. Open and Public Meetings. AMEND. This rule amendment adds the newly established Advisory Committee on the Rule of Business and Chancery Procedure to this rule as a committee that must only hold open meetings.

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Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Comment Period Closed March 9, 2023

USB14-0802. Authorization to practice law. Amend. The amendments to Rule 14-802(c)(1)(H), which were expedited under UCJA Rule 11-105(5), establish that Licensed Paralegal Practitioners (LPPs) may negotiate on their client’s behalf for purposes of settlement. While these amendments are intended to be broadly applicable to all of the LPP practice areas, the immediate result is that LPPs will be able to serve unrepresented litigants on the courts’ pro se calendars.

 

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Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Mandatory Continuing Education – Comment Period Closed December 24, 2022

The Utah Supreme Court’s Board of Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE Board) proposes amending the MCLE rules listed below. On the whole, these amendments update terminology, replacing “Live CLE” with “Verified CLE” and “Self-Study CLE” with “Elective CLE.” Rule 14-404 also clarifies some issues around the New Lawyer Training Program. And Rule 14-419 offers a new avenue for Bar licensees to obtain CLE credit: pro bono work.
Pro bono cases inherently contain an educational component because they often fall outside the licensee’s normal practice area. And there is always a large need for volunteers. As such, the Judicial Council’s Standing Committee on Resources for Self-represented Parties and the Bar’s Access to Justice Commission proposed allowing CLE credit to be given for pro bono service under the conditions identified in Rule 14-419.
The MCLE Board has, in turn, proposed a two-year pilot project to test whether the purposes for which CLE credit is given—providing education that contributes directly to a licensee’s competence, skills, professionalism, and civility—will be realized in Rule 14-419, and also whether such a rule will incentivize licensees to perform more pro bono services.

USB14-0402. Definitions. AMEND. Terminology amendments.  

USB14-0404. Active status lawyers MCLE, NLTP, admission on motion, multi-state compliance reciprocity, house counsel and UBE requirements; MCLE requirements for Paralegal Practitioners. AMEND. Terminology amendments; clarifications around the New Lawyer Training Program.

USB14-0408. Credit hour defined; application for approval. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0409. Categories of Elective CLE defined. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0410. Accreditation of CLE; undue hardship and special Accreditation. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0411. Board Accreditation of CLE. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0412. Presumptively approved CLE providers; presumptive CLE Accreditation. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0413. CLE Accreditation for qualified audio and video presentations,  webcasts, computer interactive telephonic programs, writing, lecturing, teaching, public service, and live attendance. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0414. Certificate of compliance; filing, late, and reinstatement fees;  suspension; reinstatement. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0418. Remote group CLE. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0419. CLE Credit for Pro Bono Legal Services. NEWProposes a two-year pilot project that would provide CLE credit for pro bono services performed under the auspices of a Utah court, the Utah State Bar, or a sponsoring entity.

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Rules of Professional Conduct and Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Comment Period Closed December 23, 2022

RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

RPC08.03. Reporting Professional Misconduct. Amend. Clarifies that a lawyer or judge participating in a Utah State Bar-sponsored fee dispute resolution program is not required to disclose information gained in that program to the Office of Professional Conduct.

RULES GOVERNING THE UTAH STATE BAR

USB14-0111. Exemption from future testimony and confidentiality of records and information. Amend. Clarifies when the Bar may disclose confidential information and what information it may disclose; also clarifies that a Fee Dispute Resolution Committee member who participates in a fee dispute arbitration may not be called as a witness in any subsequent legal proceeding related to the fee dispute.

USB14-0116. Conduct of the mediation. Amend. Permits the fee dispute mediator to serve notice of the mediation by email on the mediating parties.

 

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Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Comment Period Closed December 23, 2022

USB14-0705. Admission by motion. Amended as of November 7, 2022, pursuant to UCJA Rule 11-105(5). The amendments restore reciprocity language to the rule.

Since the August 1, 2022 amendments, the Utah State Bar’s Office of Admissions has fielded several inquiries about whether an attorney who is primarily licensed and practicing in a non-reciprocal jurisdiction would now be eligible for admission by motion. These questions appear to arise from the deletion of a reciprocity provision in Rule 14-705. Removing reciprocity requirements was never the intention behind the August amendments. Rather, the intention was to simply recognize that the pandemic created opportunities for remote work. As such, these amendments clarify that a reciprocal admission applicant must have been engaged in the Full-time Practice of Law in the reciprocal jurisdiction, whether remotely or in-person, during the relevant time period.
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Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Comment Period Closed November 7, 2022

USB14-0802. Authorization to practice law. Amend. The purpose of the proposed amendments to Rule 14-802 is to give Licensed Paralegal Practitioners (LPPs) the ability to modify the court forms that are relevant to their areas of practice. This would give LPPs some much needed flexibility to complete services for their clients while still working within the scopes of practice established by the Supreme Court. Rule 14-802 was initially drafted with the intention of both defining the scope of practice for LPPs and ensuring the availability, accuracy, and effect of that scope of practice through forms that have been vetted and approved by the Judicial Council’s Standing Committee on Court Forms. While the intent of this rule was to guide LPPs, attorneys, and the public through a new and uncharted program that authorized the limited practice of law by non-attorneys, it resulted in unanticipated results. LPPs’ effectiveness has been artificially limited, with negative results for their clients in the form of reduced cost savings and the inability to tailor pleadings to clients’ individual circumstances.

 

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