GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1991

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 309

Short Title:  State Bar/Attorneys.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Representative Dawkins.
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Referred to:  Judiciary II.
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March 25, 1991

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO MAKE VARIOUS AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 84 OF THE GENERAL STATUTES RELATING TO OUT-OF-STATE ATTORNEYS, PREPAID LEGAL SERVICES, DEPOSITS OF THE STATE BAR, AND BOARD OF LAW EXAMINERS RECORDS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 84-23.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 84-23.1. Prepaid legal services.
(a)	This section is in addition to and not a limitation of the powers and responsibilities of the council set out in G.S. 84-23. To the extent that this section deals with the same powers and responsibilities it shall be taken to be in amplification of those powers and not in derogation thereof.
	(b1)	All organizations offering prepaid legal services plans must register those plans with the North Carolina State Bar Council on forms provided by the Council.  Each plan must be registered prior to its implementation or operation in this State.
						(d)	Notwithstanding registration of the plan with the North Carolina State Bar Council pursuant to subsection (b1), any plan for prepaid legal services is subject to regulation under Chapter 58 of the General Statutes if offered by a company engaged in the insurance business or if the plan itself constitutes the offering of insurance.
	."
Sec. 2.   G.S. 84-4.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 84-4.1. Limited practice of out-of-state attorneys.
Any attorney domiciled in another state, and regularly admitted to practice in the courts of record of that state and in good standing therein, having been retained as attorney for a party to any civil or criminal legal proceeding pending in the General Court of Justice of North Carolina, or the North Carolina Utilities Commission or the North Carolina Industrial Commission or the Office of Administrative Hearings of North Carolina may, on motion, be admitted to practice in the General Court of Justice or the North Carolina Utilities Commission or the North Carolina Industrial Commission or the Office of Administrative Hearings of North Carolina for the sole purpose of appearing for a client in the litigation.  The motion required under this section shall contain or be accompanied by:
(1)	 The attorney's full name, post-office address and status as a practicing attorney in another state.
(2)	A statement, signed by the client, setting forth the client's address and declaring that the client has retained the attorney to represent the client in the proceeding. 
(3)	A statement that unless permitted to withdraw sooner by order of the court, the attorney will continue to represent the client in the proceeding until the final determination thereof, and that with reference to all matters incident to the proceeding, the attorney agrees to  be subject to the orders and amenable to the disciplinary action and the civil jurisdiction of the General Court of Justice and the North Carolina State Bar in all respects as if the attorney were a regularly admitted and licensed member of the Bar of North Carolina in good standing.
(4)	A statement that the state in which the attorney is regularly admitted to practice grants like privileges to members of the Bar of North Carolina in good standing.
(5)	A statement to the effect that the attorney has associated and is personally appearing in the proceeding, with an attorney who is a resident of this State and is duly and legally admitted to practice in the General Court of Justice of North Carolina, upon whom service may be had in all matters connected with such legal proceedings, or any disciplinary matter, with the same effect as if personally made on the foreign attorney within this State.
	Compliance with the foregoing requirements does not deprive the court of the discretionary power to allow or reject the application."
Sec. 3.  Chapter 84 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 84-34.1.  Deposits of the North Carolina State Bar.
Deposits of the North Carolina State Bar, its boards, agencies, and committees shall be secured as provided in G.S. 159-31(b)."
Sec. 4.  G.S. 84-24 reads as rewritten:
"§ 84-24. Admission to practice.
	The provisions of the law now obtaining with reference to admission to the practice of law, as amended, and the rules and regulations prescribed by the Supreme Court of North Carolina with reference thereto, shall continue in force until superseded, changed or modified by or under the provisions of this Article.
For the purpose of examining applicants and providing rules and regulations for admission to the Bar including the issuance of license therefor, there is hereby created the Board of Law Examiners, which shall consist of 11 members of the Bar, elected by the council of the North Carolina State Bar, who need not be members of the council. No teacher in any law school, however, shall be eligible. The members of the Board of Law Examiners elected from the Bar shall each hold office for a term of three years: Provided, that the members first elected shall hold office, two for one year, two for two years, and two for three years.
The Board of Law Examiners shall elect a member of said Board as chairman thereof, and the Board may employ an executive secretary and provide such assistance as may be required to enable said Board to perform its duties promptly and properly. The chairman and any employees shall serve for such period as said Board may determine.
The examination shall be held in such manner and at such times as the Board of Law Examiners may determine.
The Board of Law Examiners shall have full power and authority to make or cause to be made such examinations and investigations as may be deemed by it necessary to satisfy it that the applicants for admission to the Bar possess the qualifications of character and general fitness requisite for an attorney and counselor-at-law and to  this end the Board of Law Examiners shall have the power of subpoena and to summons and examine witnesses under oath and to compel their attendance and the production of books, papers and other documents and writings deemed by it to be necessary or material to the inquiry and shall also have authority to employ and provide such assistance as may be required to enable it to perform its duties promptly and properly. Records, papers, and other documents containing information collected and compiled by the Board or its members or employees as a result of investigations, inquiries, or interviews conducted in connection with examinations or licensing matters, are not public records within the meaning of Chapter 132 of the General Statutes.
All applicants for admission to the Bar shall be fingerprinted to determine whether the applicant has a record of criminal conviction in this State or in any other state or jurisdiction. The information obtained as a result of the fingerprinting of an applicant shall be limited to the official use of the Board of Law Examiners in determining the character and general fitness of the applicant.
The Board of Law Examiners, subject to the approval of the council shall by majority vote, from time to time, make, alter and amend such rules and regulations for admission to the Bar as in their judgment shall promote the welfare of the State and the profession: Provided, that any change in the educational requirements for admission to the Bar shall not become effective within two years from the date of the adoption of such change.
All such rules and regulations, and modifications, alterations and  amendments thereof, shall be recorded and promulgated as provided in G.S. 84-21 in relation to the certificate of organization and the rules and regulations of the council.
Whenever the council shall order the restoration of license to any  person as authorized by G.S. 84-32, it shall be the duty of the Board  of Law Examiners to issue a written license to such person, noting thereon that the same is issued in compliance with an order of the council of the North Carolina State Bar, whether the license to practice law was issued by the Board of Law Examiners or the Supreme Court in the first instance.
Appeals from the Board shall be had in accordance with rules or procedures as may be approved by the Supreme Court as may be submitted under G.S. 84-21 or as may be promulgated by the Supreme Court."
Sec. 5.  This act is effective upon ratification.