Utah Court Rules – Approved – <p>The Supreme Court or Judicial Council has approved and adopted the following rules, which rules are effective on the date indicated. To view the newly adopted rules, click on any rule number.</p><p>Under circumstances described in CJA Rules 2-205 or 11-105, certain rules may have been adopted prior to a public comment period. The public is provided the opportunity to provide comment on those rules during the 45 days following the adoption of any such rule. To review and comment, click on the “LINKS” tab directly below. Then click on “Proposed Rule Amendments Published for Comment” to be taken to the page where links to rules subject to public comment are located.</p>

Posted: January 23, 2023

Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Effective January 5, 2023

USB14-0802. Authorization to practice law. Amend.

The amendments to Rule 14-802(c)(1)(C) and (c)(1)(F) give Licensed Paralegal Practitioners (LPPs) the ability to modify the court forms that are relevant to their areas of practice. These amendments will give LPPs 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. The amendments to subparagraphs (c)(1)(C) and (c)(1)(F) seek to remedy that.

The amendments to Rule 14-802(c)(1)(H), meanwhile, establish that 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. The subparagraph (c)(1)(H) amendments are expedited under UCJA Rule 11-105(5).

Supreme Court Order for (c)(1)(C) and (c)(1)(F)

Supreme Court Order for (c)(1)(H)

Posted: January 17, 2023

Code of Judicial Administration – Effective May 1, 2023

CJA03-0104. Presiding judges (AMEND). Requires presiding judges to notify the appropriate state level administrator when a judge fails to submit a required case under advisement statement. If a judge fails to submit a required statement for two consecutive months, the state level administrator must notify the Management Committee.

Judicial Council Order

Posted: December 20, 2022

Code of Judicial Administration – Effective December 19, 2022

Amendments clarify that attorneys and licensed paralegal practitioners must file cases electronically and allow self-represented litigants to file by email.

CJA04-0503. Mandatory electronic filing in civil and probate cases (AMEND)

CJA04-0603. Mandatory electronic filing in criminal cases (AMEND)

CJA04-0801. Filing small claims cases (AMEND)

CJA04-0901. Mandatory electronic filing in juvenile court (AMEND)

CJA09-0302. Mandatory electronic filing in justice court (AMEND)

Judicial Council Order

Posted: December 12, 2022

Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Effective December 9, 2022

USB14-0701. Definitions. Amended as of December 9, 2022, pursuant to UCJA Rule 11-105(5). The amendments add as a defined term “UBE Transfer Applicant.”

USB14-0809. Practice Pending Admission. Amended as of December 9, 2022, pursuant to UCJA Rule 11-105(5).The amendments add UBE Transfer Applicants to the list of applicants that may practice while their admissions application is pending.

Supreme Court Order

Posted: November 21, 2022

Code of Judicial Administration – Effective May 1, 2023

Appendix B. Justice Court Standards for Recertification (AMEND). Code of Judicial Administration Rule 9-108 requires that justice court standards be reviewed and updated every two years. The amendments streamline the appendix, provide clarity, and incorporate recent statutory amendments.

CJA01-0201. Judicial Council Membership – Election (AMEND)

CJA01-0302. Board of Judges – Membership – Officers – Secretariat (AMEND)

Clarifies that Council members may serve as non-voting members of a trial court board and continues to allow an exception for the appellate courts. Reflects the Judicial Council’s membership exception for the Standing Committee on Judicial Fairness and Accountability set forth in rule 1-205(1)(C).

CJA04-0202.04. Request to access a record associated with a case; request to classify a record associated with a case (AMEND). Clarifies that requesters denied access to non-public court records associated with a case that they are not authorized to access under rule 4-202.03 must file a motion or petition to access the record.

Judicial Council Order

Posted: November 21, 2022

Code of Judicial Administration – Effective January 1, 2023

CJA01-0204. Executive committees (AMEND). Creates court-level core teams and subcommittees of Policy, Planning, and Technology to assist the Committee in accomplishing its new technology responsibilities.

CJA04-0202.08. Fees for records, information, and services (AMEND). Allows the court to charge requesters for the first 15 minutes of personnel time. Changes “impecunious” to “indigent.” Indigent requesters are limited to one free copy of each record, after which they would be required to pay the standard rates. Exceptions can be made by the State Court Administrator. Removes references to outdated technology.

Judicial Council Order

Posted: November 21, 2022

Code of Judicial Administration – Effective November 21, 2022

CJA04-0202.02. Records classification (AMEND). Records previously designated as sealed by another court remain sealed in the record on appeal. Records may be unsealed by court order.

Judicial Council Order

Posted: November 8, 2022

Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Effective November 7, 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.

Supreme Court Order

Posted: November 1, 2022

Rules of Civil Procedure – Effective November 1, 2022

URCP004. Process. Amend. A community member recognized the slight difference in the language of the rule and the language in the form summons as it relates to default judgments. Based upon the regular practice with default judgments the Committee proposed a change of the word “will” to “may” in subsection (c)(1)(E). The rule now reads a “judgment by default may be entered against the defendant.”

URCP043. Evidence. Amend. A proposal was made to change the language of the remote hearing oath outlined in subsection (c) to remove the language “issue (or matter) pending between ___ and ___” to be replaced by the word “matter.” Particularly for cases in juvenile court where the caption is “State of Utah in the interest of …” the language in the oath is more encompassing if read “evidence you shall give in this matter” when administering the oath.

URCP076. Notice of contact information change. Amend. After review of the rule and publishing for comment twice, the amendments include what information must be provided when contact information changes and to whom notice should be sent.

Supreme Court Order

Posted: October 31, 2022

Supreme Court Rules of Professional Practice – Effective November 1, 2022

CJA11-0581. Sanctions. The amendments clarify that if a lawyer is placed on probation the status of probation is public, but the terms of their probation may be private.

CJA11-0582. Factors to be considered in imposing sanctions. The amendments to Rule 11-582: (1) requires the factfinder to consider the presumptive sanctions set forth in the rules, along with any mitigating and aggravating factors; and (2) adds a section to provide guidance when multiple instances of misconduct are found.

CJA11-0583. Imposition of sanctions. The amendment to Rule 11-583 repeals existing rule 11-583 addressing appropriate sanctions and replaces it with four new rules (rules 11-583 through 11-586) that set forth presumptive sanctions based on the nature of the duty violated.

CJA11-0584. Presumptive sanctions for violating duties owed to the public. The new rule provides presumptive sanctions to be imposed upon finding that the lawyer failed to maintain personal integrity, generally, by committing a criminal act. Additionally, this new rule provides presumptive sanctions for violations of Rule 3.8, Special responsibilities of a prosecutor.

CJA11-0585. Presumptive sanctions for violating duties owed to the legal system. The new rule provides presumptive sanctions to be imposed upon finding that the lawyer has engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. This rule relates to deceit, fraud, misrepresentation, improper communication with individuals in the legal system, and abuse of the legal process.

CJA11-0586. Presumptive sanctions for violating duties owed as a member of the legal profession. The new rule provides presumptive sanctions to be imposed upon finding that the lawyer has engaged in conduct involving misleading communications about a lawyer or a lawyer’s services, unreasonable or improper fees, unauthorized practice of law, failure to report professional misconduct, and failure to respond to a lawful request from disciplinary authority.

Supreme Court Order for Rules 11-581 and 11-582

Supreme Court Order for Rule 11-583

Supreme Court Order for Rules 11-584, 11-585, and 11-586