If you are in-house counsel for a corporation in Connecticut, but are not licensed in Connecticut, please read this! Failure to comply with Connecticut Practice Book section 15A could result in an enforcement action for unauthorized practice of law.
Connecticut Practice Book section 15A requires in-house counsel to register with the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee by June 30, 2008 (That’s right, the year is not a misprint). The purpose of this requirement is to “clarify the status of house counsel as authorized house counsel” and “to confirm that such counsel are subject to regulation by the judges of the superior court.” To qualify as an authorized house counsel (AHC) under the requirement an applicant must:
A. be a member of the bar in good standing in another jurisdiction (state, DC, or US territory; foreign countries do NOT qualify).
B. be employed by an “organization” as defined in Section 15A or will be relocating to Connecticut within three months in furtherance of employment by such an “organization.”
C. agree to abide by the rules regulating members of the Connecticut bar.
D. agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the statewide grievance committee and the superior court.
E. have a law degree (JD or LLB) from a law school approved by the bar examining committee (all ABA-approved law schools and Southern New England Law School and Massachusetts School of Law are approved by the committee).
F. file an application for registration as an authorized house counsel with the bar examining committee together with the required forms, documents and the fee of $1,000.00.
Compliance with the new requirement authorizes attorneys licensed to practice in jurisdictions other than Connecticut to be permitted to undertake the following activities, without having to take the CT bar exam so long as they are exclusively employed by an “organization”:
A. the giving of legal advice to the directors, officers, employees, and agents of the organization with respect to its business and affairs;
B. negotiating and documenting all matters for the organization; and
C. representation of the organization in its dealings with any administrative agency, tribunal or commission having jurisdiction; provided, however, authorized house counsel shall not be permitted to make appearances as counsel before any state or municipal administrative tribunal, agency, or commission, and shall not be permitted to make appearances in any court of this state, unless the attorney is specially admitted to appear in a case before such tribunal, agency, commission or court.
Section 15A’s definitions and the registration forms can be found here.
