Category: RPC05.04

Posted: January 28, 2021

Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rules of Appellate Procedure, and Rules of Professional Conduct – Effective May 1, 2021

Rules of Civil Procedure

URCP083. AMEND. The proposed amendments would bring represented parties into the rule’s purview. They would also permit any court to rely on another court’s vexatious litigant findings and order their own restrictions. Paragraph (e)(1) was updated to fix a grammatical error.

Rules Governing Constitutional Challenges

The following amendments to Civil Rule 24,Criminal Rule 12, and Appellate Rule 25A are intended to better coordinate the provisions addressing constitutional challenges. The amendments do the following:

Address service on the Attorney General and other governmental entities;
Broaden the kinds of challenges that may arise;
Clarify that it is the governmental entity that responds, not the county or municipal attorney (which can be a contracted position in certain jurisdictions);
Eliminate outdated language in Civil Rule 24 in favor of the updated federal language;
Clarify in each rule the process and timing for the Attorney General or other governmental entity to respond to a constitutional challenge; and
Eliminate the requirement in Appellate Rule 25A that the Attorney General state the reasons for declining to file an amicus brief.

URCP024 – Redline and URCP024 – Clean

URCrP012 – Redline

URAP025A – Redline

Rules of Professional Conduct

RPC05.04. Professional Independence of a Lawyer. AMEND. Adds a clarifying comment to the rule.

Supreme Court Order for Civil Rules 83 and 24

Supreme Court Order for Criminal Rule 12

Supreme Court Order for Appellate Rule 25A

Supreme Court Order for Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 5.4

Posted: September 1, 2020

Supreme Court Regulatory Reform – Revised – Effective August 31, 2020

Shortly after the Supreme Court adopted Rules 5.4A and 5.4B of the Rules of Professional Conduct, it became evident that the fee-splitting and fee-sharing provisions of Rule 5.4A should be included in the Sandbox envisioned by Rule 5.4B and Standing Order 15. In response to input from the Bar Commission and others, the Supreme Court unanimously voted to make the necessary changes.

The relevant provisions of Rules 5.4A and 5.4B have been combined into Rule 5.4. Rules 5.4A and 5.4B are repealed effective immediately. Combined Rule 5.4 and revised Standing Order 15 are adopted effective immediately.

Repealed Rules

RPC Rule 5.4A

RPC Rule 5.4B

Combined Rule and Revised Standing Order

Redline Combined RPC Rule 5.4

Clean Combined RPC Rule 5.4

Redline Revised Utah Supreme Court Standing Order No. 15

Clean Revised Utah Supreme Court Standing Order No. 15

Supreme Court Order

Posted: August 13, 2020

Supreme Court Regulatory Reform-Effective August 14, 2020

The Utah Supreme Court approves the following regulatory reform efforts effective August 14, 2020. Please see https://utahinnovationoffice.org/ and the press release for more information.

Supreme Court Standing Order

Standing Order 15: This order establishes a pilot legal regulatory sandbox and an Office of Legal Services Innovation to assist the Utah Supreme Court with respect to overseeing and regulating the practice of law by nontraditional legal service providers or by traditional providers offering nontraditional legal services.

Rules of Professional Conduct

Rules Governing the Professional Independence of a Lawyer: The Supreme Court repeals former Rule 5.4 of the Rules of Professional Conduct and replaces it with Rules 5.4A and 5.4B.

Rule 5.4A: This rule governs lawyers delivering legal services in the traditional and conventional model. New Rule 5.4A(a) outlines the foremost duties of a lawyer – the duty of independence of judgment, duty of loyalty to the client, and duty of confidentiality – applicable to the rest of the Rule. The preeminence of these professional core values is further explained in new Comments [1] and [2] as they pertain to sharing fees with nonlawyers, with lawyers in a separate firm, and accepting referrals and payments from parties other than the client. In order to loosen the restriction on fee sharing, Rule 5.4A(b) allows a lawyer to share legal fees with a nonlawyer as long as written notice is given at the outset of the representation or before sharing fees from an existing client.
Rule 1.5: Paragraph (e) of this rule has been eliminated to allow dividing fees among lawyers who are not in the same firm.
Rule 5.4B: This rule is applicable to lawyers participating in the pilot legal regulatory sandbox. Like Rule 5.4A, the core professional values for lawyers underlying this rule are stated at the outset under subsection (a). Comments [1] and [2] reiterate and clarify the importance of the underlying core values and duties of a lawyer, notwithstanding the novel arrangement with nonlawyers. Rule 5.4B(b) allows a lawyer to practice law in an organization that is managed or owned, in whole or in part, by nonlawyers, as long as (i) the client is given written notice that nonlawyers have a financial interest in the organization or nonlawyers have managerial authority over the lawyer, and (ii) the client receives in writing the financial or managerial structure of the organization.

Lawyer Advertising Rules: The Supreme Court significantly simplified the lawyer advertising rules in the Rules of Professional Conduct. Rules 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5 have been repealed and replaced with new Rule 7.1. Notably, this change eliminates the prohibition against in-person solicitation found previously in Rule 7.3.

Rule 7.1: Prohibits (i) making false and misleading claims about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services, and (ii) interacting in a way that involves coercion, duress, or harassment.

Redline and Clean Rules

Redline Rule 5.4A

Clean Rule 5.4A

Redline Rule 5.4B

Clean Rule 5.4B

Redline Rule 1.5

Clean Rule 1.5

Redline Rules 7.1 through 7.5

Clean Rules Rules 7.1 through 7.5

Supreme Court Order

Link to Revised Regulatory Reform Rules

Posted: September 29, 2005

Rules of Professional Conduct

http://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title10/Chapter2/10-2-S301.html?v=C10-2-S301_1800010118000101RPC Final (w/ redline)
RPC Final (w/o redline)
RPC 00.00. Preamble: A Lawyer’s Responsibilities. Amend. The Ethics 2000 Commission was created by the American Bar Association to review and amend the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. The Ethics 2000 Commission ‘s revisions to the ABA Model Rules were completed in August 2003. The Utah Supreme Court requested its Advisory Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct to consider the Ethics 2000 revisions and recommend which amendments, if any, should be made to the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct. The rules listed below include the Ethics 2000 revisions to the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct recommended by the court’s advisory committee. The Ethics 2000 revisions to the ABA Model Rules and explanations regarding the changes can be found at www.abanet.org/cpr/ethics2k.html.
RPC 01.00.Terminology. Amend.
RPC 01.01. Competence. Amend.
RPC 01.02.Scope of Representation and Allocation of Authority Between Client and Lawyer. Amend.
RPC 01.03.Diligence. Amend.
RPC 01.04.Communication. Amend.
RPC 01.05.Fees. Amend.
RPC 01.06.Confidentiality of Information Amend.
RPC 01.07.Conflict of Interest: Current Clients. Amend.
RPC 01.08.Conflict of Interest: Current Clients: Specific Rules. Amend.
RPC 01.09.Duties to Former Clients Amend.
RPC 01.10.Imputation of Conflicts of Interest: General Rule. Amend.
RPC 01.11. Special Conflicts of Interest for Former and Current Government Employees. Amend.
RPC 01.12.Former Judge, Arbitrator, Mediator or Other Third-Party Neutral. Amend.
RPC 01.13.Organization as a Client. Amend.
RPC 01.14.Client with Diminished Capacity. Amend.
RPC 01.15.Safekeeping Property. Amend.
RPC 01.17.Sale of Law Practice. Amend.
RPC 01.18.Duties to Prospective Client. New.
RPC 02.01.Advisor. Amend.
RPC 02.02.Intermediary. Repealed.
RPC 02.03.Evaluation for Use by Third Persons. Amend.
RPC 02.04.Lawyer Serving as Third-Party Neutral. New.
RPC 03.01.Meritorious Claims and Contentions. Amend.
RPC 03.02.Expediting Litigation. Amend.
RPC 03.03.Candor Toward the Tribunal. Amend.
RPC 03.04. Fairness to Opposing Party and Counsel. Amend.
RPC 03.05. Impartiality and Decorum of the Tribunal. Amend.
RPC 03.06. Trial Publicity. Amend.
RPC 03.07. Lawyer as Witness. Amend.
RPC 03.08. Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor. Amend.
RPC 03.09. Advocate in Nonadjudicative Proceedings. Amend.
RPC 04.01. Truthfulness in Statements to Others. Amend.
RPC 04.02. Communication with Persons Represented by Counsel. Amend.
RPC 04.03. Dealing with Unrepresented Person. Amend.
RPC 04.04. Respect for Rights of Third Persons. Amend.
RPC 05.01. Responsibilities of Partners, Managers, and Supervisory Lawyers. Amend.
RPC 05.02. Responsibilities of a Subordinate Lawyer. Amend.
RPC 05.03. Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistants. Amend.
RPC 05.04. Professional Independence of a Lawyer. Amend.
RPC 05.05. Unauthorized Practice of Law; Multijurisdictional Practice of Law. Repeal & Reenact.
RPC 05.06. Restrictions on Right to Practice. Amend.
RPC 05.07. Responsibilities Regarding Law-Related Services. New.
RPC 06.01. Voluntary Pro Bono Legal Service. Amend.
RPC 06.02. Accepting Appointments. Amend.
RPC 06.03. Membership in Legal Services Organization. Amend.
RPC 06.04. Law Reform Activities Affecting Client Interests. Amend.
RPC 06.05. Nonprofit and Court-Annexed Limited Legal Services Programs. New.
RPC 07.01. Communications Concerning a Lawyer’s Services. Amend.
RPC 07.02. Advertising. Amend.
RPC 07.03. Direct Contact with Prospective Clients. Amend.
RPC 07.04. Communication of Fields of Practice. Amend.
RPC 07.05. Firm Names and Letterheads. Amend.
RPC 08.01. Bar Admission and Disciplinary Matters. Amend.
RPC 08.02. Judicial Officials. Amend.
RPC 08.03. Reporting Professional Misconduct. Amend.
RPC 08.04. Misconduct. Amend.
RPC 08.05. Disciplinary Authority; Choice of Law. Repeal & Reenact.
Supreme Court Order.