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Emeritus Rules for Pro Bono

ABA Model Rule 6.1 Table of State Ethics Rules Standards for Pro Bono Programs Emeritus Attorney Rules Pro Bono Reporting CLE Credit for Doing Pro Bono

State Bar Emeritus Rules Encourage Pro Bono

Holly Robinson
ABA Commission on Law and Aging
(202) 662-8694
RobinsoH@staff.abanet.org

Background
Many lawyers who retire or otherwise leave the active practice of law convert their bar membership to inactive status to avoid the expense of mandatory bar dues and continuing legal education programs. Some lawyers, particularly retirees, may have moved to states in which they are not licensed to practice law.

More than 80 percent of civil legal needs of low income persons are not being met. Yet, one source of volunteers, retired and otherwise inactive lawyers, face barriers to doing pro bono work because they are no longer active bar members or may live in a state in which they are not licensed to practice law. In the mid-1980's, states began to adopt pro bono practice rules to address the hurdles that licensure rules may pose when retired or otherwise inactive lawyers seek to participate in pro bono service.

The rules were originally aimed at retirees and designed to allow them to continue to practice law under certain circumstances. In recent years, the target audience has broadened beyond retired lawyers to attract otherwise qualified and experienced younger lawyers who are not in active practice but who are interested in public service. The trend is to encourage pro bono practice while also establishing guidelines to protect both the public and the profession by requiring that (1) the volunteer activity be performed under the auspices of a legitimate legal services or other non-profit organization; (2) the volunteer be a member of a bar in good standing; and (3) the volunteer work be supervised by a lawyer licensed in the jurisdiction.

Pro bono practice rules have a common goal but vary from state to state. What follows is a list of states and jursidictions that have enacted emeritus pro bono rules, the year the rules were applied, and contact information for a person responsible for overseeing the implementation of the rule.

State Emeritus Attorney Pro Bono Rules and State Contacts (as of 4/1/08)
Holly Robinson, Associate Staff Director
ABA Commission on Law and Aging

State Year Enacted Rules Contact
Alaska 10/15/2007 Krista Scully
Pro Bono Coordinator
Alaska Bar Association
907-272-7469
scullyk@alaskabar.org
Alaska Bar Rule 43.2
Arizona 1987 Lara Slifko
Resource Development Director
Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education
602-340-7235
Lara.Slifko@azflse.org
Supreme Court Rule 38 (e). Special Exceptions to Standard Examination and Admission Process

California 1987 Rodney Low
Program Developer
State Bar of California
415-538-2219
Rodney.Low@calbar.ca.gov
Title 3 Division 2 Chapter 8
Colorado 7/1/2007 Kathleen M. Schoen
Director
Local Bar Relations & Access to Justice
Colorado Bar Association
303-824-5305
kschoen@cobar.org
Colorado Court Rules 223
Delaware 1987, 2003 Cathy Howard
Clerk
Delaware Supreme Court
302-739-4155
Cathy.Howard@state.de.us
Supreme Court Rule 69

District of Columbia 1982 Maureen Syracuse
Pro Bono Program Director
The District of Columbia Bar
202-737-4700 ext. 290
msyracuse@dcbar.org
Court of Appeals Rule 49 (c)(9) & (10)
Florida 1985 Mike Tartaglia
Pro Bono Programs
Florida State Bar
850-561-5700
mtartag@flabar.org
Tracy Brim
Pro Bono Programs
Florida State Bar
850-561-5622
tbrim@flabar.org
Bar Rule 12

Georgia 1995 Michael Monahan
Pro Bono Project
State Bar of Georgia
404-527-8762
mike@gabar.org
Bar Rule 1-202 (d)

Hawaii 2002 James Branham
Staff Attorney
Hawai’i Supreme Court
808-539-4747
James.L.Branham@courts.state.hi.us
Lyn Flanigan Esq.
Executive Director
Hawaii State Bar Association
808-537-1868
lflanigan@hsba.org
Supreme Court Rule 20

Idaho 1990 Diane Minnich
Executive Director
Idaho State Bar
208-334-4500
dminnich@isb.idaho.gov
Bar Rule 223

Illinois Effective July 1, 2008 Dina Merrell
Associate Director
The Chicago Bar Foundation
(312) 554-1206
dmerrell@chicagobar.org
Supreme Court Rule 756

Maine 2005 Jackie Rogers
Administrative Director
Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar
207-623-1121
board@mebaroverseers.org
Bar Rule 6 (d)

Maryland 1995 Sharon Goldsmith
Executive Director
Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland
410-837-9379
sgoldsmith@probonomd.org
Court of Appeals Rules 16-811 (e)(2); 1-312

Massachusetts 2005 Laurie Aaron
Office of Bar Counsel
Mass. Board of Bar Overseers
617-728-8749
L.Aaron@mabbo.org
Supreme Judicial Court Rule 4:02 (8)

Mississippi 10/18/2007 Adam Kilgore
General Counsel
Mississippi Bar Association
601-948-4471
ogc@msbar.org
Shirley Williams
Executive Director
Miss. Volunteer Lawyers Project
swilliams@msbar.org
Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 46 (f)

Montana 2005, 2006 Ann Gilkey
Equal Justice Coordinator
State Bar of Montana
406-447-2201
agilkey@montanabar.org
Bar Rule Art. 1 §3
New Hampshire 2003 Ginny Martin
Legal Services Director
New Hampshire Bar Association
(603) 224-6942
gmartin@nhbar.org
By-Laws of the New Hampshire Bar Association
Article II Section 8

New York 2003 Hon. Juanita Bing Newton
Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives
646-386-4700
22 NYCRR § 118.1(g)

North Carolina 7/8/2007 Tom Lunsford
Executive Director
North Carolina State Bar
919-828-4620
tlunsford@ncbar.com
SESSION LAW 2007-200 HOUSE BILL 1487
Oregon 1987, 2001 Catherine Petrecca
Pro Bono Program Developer
Oregon State Bar
503-431-6355
cpetrecca@osbar.org
Oregon State Bar By-Laws 6.1

South Carolina 2001 Gayle Watts
Deputy Clerk for Bar Admissions
South Carolina Supreme Court
803-734-1080
Supreme Court Rule 415

South Dakota 1/1/2008 Tom Barnett
Executive Director
State Bar of South Dakota
605-224-7554
Thomas.Barnett@sdbar.net
Supreme Court Rule SDCL 16-17.4.1.

Texas 1988, 1996 Lisa Villarreal-Rios
Administrative Attorney
Texas Lawyers Care
512-427-1859
lisa.villarrealrios@texasbar.com
Bar Rule Article XIII

Utah 1996 Brooke Bruno
Pro Bono Coordinator
Utah State Bar
801-297-7051
Brooke.Bruno@utahbar.org
Rule 14-101 et seq. (RIM); Rule 14-203 (Bylaws); Rule 14-401 et seq. (MCLE)
Virginia 2004 Maureen Petrini
Pro Bono Coordinator
Virginia State Bar
804-775-0522
petrini@vsb.org
Supreme Court Rule 6:4-3

Washington 1998 Sharlene Steele
Access to Justice Programs Liaison
Washington State Bar Association
sharlene@wsba.org
206-727-8282
Court Rule 8 (e)

West Virginia 2006 Rory Perry
Clerk
West Virginia Court of Appeals
304-558-2601
Bar Rule Article II
§ 11

Total Number of Jurisdictions: 27

See also: Checklist for Creating an Emeritus Attorney Pro Bono Participation Program by Holly Robinson (PDF file, 62 KB)

For more information on Pro Bono and Senior/Inactive Lawyers please go here.

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Updated: 4/14/2008

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