Virginia May Impose New Requirements On In-House Counsel

Corporate attorneys in Virginia may have to apply for admission to the Virginia state bar. Proposed Rule 1A:5 would require all corporate counsel in Virginia to register with the state bar. With their registration, they would be allowed to practice law and appear in court, though only on behalf of their company. They would also be required to score 85 or more on the Multi-state Professional Responsibility Exam, attend a course on professionalism, pay an application fee and annual dues, and obtain 15 MCLE credits yearly. Virginia is one of only 8 states which do not require corporate attorneys to be admitted or even registered with the state bar. The proposed rule resulted from lobbying by in-house counsel who became ineligible to waive into the Virginia bar – based on their in-house practice – under an earlier rule change. Legal Times, Apr. 25, 2002.

The American Corporate Counsel Association reports that only 12 states have specific rules for corporate counsel practice ( Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina and Washington). Eight states allow in-house counsel to practice for their companies as an exception to the ban on unauthorized practice of law (Alabama, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington, D.C.). The other 37 states don’t have an in-house counsel rule and don’t except in-house practice from their UAPL rules.

[Note: The California Supreme Court expects to promulgate rules for multi-jurisdictional practice, including in-house counsel, by Jan.1, 2004.]