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Rules Governing Licensed Paralegal Practitioners and Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Effective May 1, 2022

URGLPP15-0701. Definitions. Amend. Clarifies the scope of practice within family law to include gender change petitions and common law marriage, as well as creates a definition for “Specialized Course of Instruction” and “Substantive Legal Course” used elsewhere in Rule 15-703.

URGLPP15-0703. Qualifications for licensure as a licensed paralegal practitioner. Amend. This rule has been revised to add relevant subheadings for ease of reading, as well as a substantive amendment permitting qualified academic credit to be applied toward an applicant’s substantive law-related experience hours requirement.

USB14-0802. Authorization to practice law. Amend. Mirrors the clarifications set forth in Rule 15-701 which define an LPP’s permitted areas of practice.

Supreme Court Order

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Rules of Professional Conduct – Effective May 1, 2022

The following amendments clarify the ethical practice of non-Utah lawyers practicing law remotely while living in Utah.

RPC05.05. Unauthorized Practice of Law; Multijurisdictional Practice of Law. Amend. Clarifies that a non-Utah lawyer who is living in Utah may provide legal services remotely to clients in a jurisdiction where the lawyer is admitted. The lawyer must not establish a public-facing office nor hold out to the public or otherwise represent that the lawyer is admitted to practice law in this jurisdiction.

RPC01.00. Terminology. Amend. Defines a public-facing office as an office that is open to the public and provides a service that is available to the population in that location.

Supreme Court Order

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Rules of Juvenile Procedure – Effective January 19, 2022

URJP027A. Admissibility of statements given by a child. Amended. Reflects statutory changes made by H.B. 178 Juvenile Interrogation Amendments (2021) and H.B. 285 Juvenile Code Recodification (2021).

URJP037. Child protective orders. Amended. Revised rule to comply with S.B. 32 Indigent Defense Act Amendments (2019). Clarifiethat child protective order proceedings are governed by Title 78B, Chapter 7, Part 1 General Provisions, and Part 2 Child Protective Orders. Changed the time frame for holding a hearing after granting an ex party child protective order to align with statutory changes in H.B. 255 Protective Order Revisions (2021).

URJP045. Dispositional Reports. Amended. Updated rule to reflect current terminology regarding dispositional reports in delinquency and abuse, neglect, and dependency cases and statutory changes contained in H.B. 285 Juvenile Code Recodification (2021). Clarified that a juvenile judge shall not shall not view or consider a dispositional report in delinquency cases prior to adjudication since the dispositional report is typically uploaded to juvenile court’s record management system prior to the disposition hearing. Updated the timeframe for providing a dispositional report in delinquency cases to allow attorneys sufficient time to review the report with their minor client.

URJP055. Transfer of minors who present a danger in detention. Repealed. Rule 55 is repealed because procedures governing minors in detention are contained in Title 80, Chapter 6, Juvenile Justice.

Supreme Court Order – Corrected

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Rules of Evidence – Effective May 1, 2022

URE0512. Victim Communications (AMEND). Clarifies that URE 510 applies to this rule. Disclosures of the following confidential communications will now waive the privilege: 1) disclosures required under Title 62A, Chapter 4a, Child and Family Services or UCA § 62A-3-305, 2) evidence of a victim being in clear and immediate danger to the victim’s self or others, and 3) evidence that the victim has committed a crime, plans to commit a crime, or intends to conceal a crime.

URE1101. Applicability of Rules (AMEND). Clarifies that the Utah Rules of Evidence are inapplicable to proceedings for revoking probation, unless the court for good cause otherwise orders. Amends the committee note following State v. Weeks, 61 P.3d 1000.

 

Supreme Court Order

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Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Effective May 1, 2022

USB14-0113.  Paralegal Division. Amend. In the context of the Paralegal Division, rule amendments are intended to capture the interplay between Licensed Paralegal Practitioners (LPP’s) and non-Bar-licensed paralegals. The amendments may be summarized as follows:

  • A paralegal may also include an LPP as defined in Rule 14-101;
  • The certification requirements are waived for LPP’s joining the paralegal division;
  • The term “bar licensee” refers to both a lawyer and an LPP; and
  • An LPP may be a sponsor of a paralegal affiliate in the paralegal division.

Supreme Court Order

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Supreme Court Rules of Professional Practice – Effective December 31, 2021

CJA11-0510. Ethics and Discipline Committee composition. Amend. The proposed changes would allow the Ethics and Discipline Committee to recruit up to eight public members and up to 25 lawyer members, with the minimum required numbers of members remaining at four and 21, respectively. The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that the Committee has a sufficient number of individual members to attend screening panel hearings of disciplinary matters. The proposed changes also allow the Committee to have three to four Committee vice chairs, rather than always requiring four vice chairs.

CJA11-0511. Screening panel composition; responsibilities. Amend. The first proposed change reflects the allowed increase in the overall size of the Ethics and Discipline Committee’s four screening panels but retains the requirement that a maximum of one public member and four lawyer members will attend screening panel hearings. The second proposed change provides that screening panel hearings must have five screening panel members, including the panel chair or vice chair and one public member. Consent by the parties to a lower number of screening panel members is no longer allowed. The final proposed change allows the screening panel chair
to vote on panel determinations.

CJA11-0513. Committee clerk. Amend. The proposed change applies the immunity provisions of Rule 11-540 to the Committee clerk. The immunity provisions previously were not expressly applicable to the clerk.

CJA11-0591. Reinstatement following a suspension of more than six months; relicensure. Correction. The proposed change clarifies that, unlike a petition for relicensure, a petition for reinstatement need not be accompanied by a report and recommendation from the Bar’s Character and Fitness Committee.

Supreme Court Order

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Code of Judicial Administration – Effective May 1, 2022

CJA01-0303. Internal procedures and organization. (AMEND). Allows for reports from the Boards of District, Juvenile, and Justice Court Judges to be provided twice each year rather than quarterly.

CJA02-0101. Rules for the conduct of Council meetings. (AMEND)

CJA05-0101. The Board of Appellate Court Judges. (AMEND)

CJA06-0101. The Board of District Court Judges. (AMEND)

CJA07-0101. Juvenile Court Board, Executive Committee and Council Representatives. (AMEND)

CJA09-0101. Board of Justice Court Judges. (AMEND)

Removes the requirement to follow Robert’s Rules of Order. Boards and Committees will use general principles for conducting meetings in an orderly and professional manner.

CJA03-0401.  Office of General Counsel. (AMEND). Clarifies that the General Counsel’s Office is not required to provide staff support for all Judicial Council and Supreme Court committees.

CJA04-0202.02. Records classification. (AMEND).The amendment at line 170 clarifies that a minor’s name is only public in criminal cases if the minor is a party. The amendment at lines 273-274 removes a reference to Utah Code Title 77, Chapter 3a because stalking injunctions are now codified with protective orders in Utah Code Title 78B, Chapter 7.

CJA04-0208. Automatic expungement of cases. (NEW).Governs the Administrative Office of the Court’s development and implementation of an automated expungement process. The rule requires approval by the Judicial Council of all automated processes and approval of the form and content of automated orders. Processes must also meet any requirements under the Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Judicial Council Order

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