Month: November 2022

Posted: November 21, 2022

Code of Judicial Administration – Comment Period Closed January 5, 2023

CJA06-0501. Reporting requirements for guardians and conservators. Proposed amendments clarify that a corporate fiduciary must attach its own internal reports and accountings to court approved forms.

CJA03-0406. Budget and fiscal management. Proposed amendments incorporate the role of the Budget and Fiscal Management Committee and make other improvements to clarify the budget process.

CJA03-0104. Presiding judges. Proposed amendments require 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.

Posted: November 9, 2022

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. NEW. Proposes 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.

Posted: November 8, 2022

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.

Posted: November 8, 2022

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.