Gulf Coast Region Court Information

D.C. Court of Appeals to Assist Attorneys Affected by Hurricane Katrina

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Chief Judge Eric T. Washington of the D.C. Court of Appeals announced today that the Court has issued an Order making it clear that attorneys displaced by Hurricane Katrina may temporarily operate their practice in D.C. without running afoul of the Unauthorized Practice of Law rules. "We realize that there are lawyers from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who may want to conduct their practice from the District, temporarily. In an effort to lighten the burden of their evacuation and relocation process, and to assist the justice systems in the affected states, the Court has made it clear that attorneys displaced by Hurricane Katrina can temporarily practice from the District of Columbia without running afoul of Rule 49 of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals which governs the unauthorized practice of law," said Chief Judge Washington. "This Court wants to do everything it can to assist the courts, the parties, the judges and the lawyers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

The order issued today by the full D.C. Court of Appeals allows attorneys displaced by the hurricane to "practice law until February 28, 2006, from a location in the District of Columbia as if the attorney were located in the attorney's home jurisdiction." Attorneys practicing under this rule are responsible for making clear to clients that they are not admitted to practice in the District of Columbia. A memorandum and copy of the order were sent to the Bar Associations and Supreme Courts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, as well as the American Bar Association.

Chief Judge Washington closed his memorandum to his colleagues in the affected region by expressing the Court's sympathy over the tragedy: "We share the nation's sorrow over the tragedy that has befallen your states, and hope that this accommodation to your states' attorneys will aid in the restoration of a fully functioning system of justice..."

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