1 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA AF 06

- 0163

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IN RE THE RULES OF CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION O R D E R

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### Before this Court is a P etition filed by the Montana Commission of Continuing Le gal Education (Commissi on) p roposing to make certain am endments to the 2001 Rules of Continuing Le ga l E ducation (CLE Rules)

. T he Commission states that the proposed amendments are for purposes of clarification of the procedure by which attorneys are transferred to i nactive stat us f or noncompliance with CLE requirements and to ma ke all references to this procedure consistent. The Commission’s rationale is further developed in its P etition, and will not be repeated here. We have reviewed the Commission’s P etition, and conclude that its proposed amendments to the CLE Rules are well grounded and should be approved. T herefore, good cause shown, IT IS ORDERED the Commission’s petition is GRANTED. CLE Rules 3, 5, 12, 13, 14 and 15 are amended in accordance with “ Exhibit A” attached h ereto, and by this reference made a part hereof for all purposes. D eleted language is strickenand added language is underlined. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that these amendments to the CLE Rules will become effective 30 days from the date of this Order. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of this Court give notice of this O rder to the Executive Director of State Bar of Montana with the request that a reference or link November 13 20082



### to this O rder be published on the State Bar of Montana’s website and with the f urther
r equest that notice of this O rder be published in the Montana Lawyer ; to the Clerks of the District Courts; to the Judges of the District Courts ; t o the Clerk of the Federal District court of the District of Montana with the request that the Clerk provid e ac opy to the United State District Judges in Montana; and to the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this Order be published on the websites of the Montana Supreme Court and the MontanaState Law Library

. Dated this 13 th

### day of November , 2008.
/S/ KARLA M. GRAY /S/ JAMES C. NELSON /S/ PATRICIA COTTER /S/ W. WILLIAM LEAPHART /S/ JOHN WARNER /S/ BRIAN MORRIS /S/ JIM RICE1 

### - Exhibit A - Rule 3

– Commission B. Powers of the Commissio n
e. A ssess ann

ual a ffidavit filing fees to pay th e reasonable and necessary c osts of a dministering th ese rules, assess penal

ty f ees fo r fa ilure to file affidavi ts as requi

red by Rule 5, assess a fee fo r th e restoration reinstatementt o active pract ice of attorneys suspe nded fro m the practice of l aw under Rule 12, assess sponsor fees, and assess other fees deemed necessary by the Commission; h. In a ccordance wi

th R ule 12, D ir ect the State Bar of Montana to transfer attorneys not in com pliance wi

th R ule 5 fro m active status to inactive status and otherwise com ply wi th t he notification requirements of Rule 12

.
Rule 5 - Reporting Requirements C. Nonco mp liance Fees. I n addi tion t o the filing fee prescribed in Rule 3B2(e), attorneys in nonco mp liance who correct the defic iency on or b ef ore June 15, as provided in Rule 12A, shall be assessed an addi

tional f ee. of f ift y dollars ($50.00). 1. No ncompliance after June 15 shall be governed by

Rule 12. 2. The fees prescribed in this Rule shall be determined by the Commission e ach year.

Rule 12

– Noncompliance A. Notice of

N onco mp liance. T he Commissio n shall, by May 1 5 of e ach year, send a wri

tten notice of nonco mp liance to each attorney w ho had not filed an acceptable affidavi t fo r the previous year as requi

red by Rule 5. T he notice of nonco mp liance shall

d escribe th e nature of th e nonco mp liance and shall state that, unless the attorney f iles an acceptable affidavi t wi th t he Commissio n postmarked by J une 15 of

t hat year showing that th e nonco mp liance has been corrected and pays th e appropri ate fees, th e Commissio n will di rect the State Bar of

M ontana to transfer th e attorney

to i nact ive status until the nonco mp liance is corrected and th e fe es requi red by Rule 5 are paid. This transf er shall be effected wi

thin 10 business days of

th e Co mmissio n's notice to the State Bar of Montana. B. Notice of

T ransfer. Contem

poraneously wi

th i ts notice to the State Bar of M ontana No later than ten (l 0) business days af ter June 15 , th e Commissio n shall furnish the names of t he attorneys and th e effect ive date of t heir transfers to inact ive status
-- which shall be th e 10t h business day fo llowing the Co mmissio n's notice to the State Bar of M ontana
-- to the named attorneys , to the Montana S upreme Court, to th e Clerk of t he MontanaS upreme Court, to the Clerks of the Di strict Courts of

th e State of Montana wi

th the request that they

provide a copy

to th e district judges in thei r judicia l district, to the Clerk of t he Federal District Court of t he Di strict of

M ontana wi

th a r equest that he th e Clerk p rovide a copy

to the United States District Judges in Montana, and to the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.2

Rule 13 - CLE Requirement Upon Reinstatement to Active Statusor after Suspension This rule applies to an att orney suspended fro m the practice of l aw transf

erred to inact ive status in accordance wi

th Rule 12 or suspended from the practice of l aw who applies fo r reinstatement to active status
. The attorney may be reinstated by the Court upon th e payment of a ll fe es requi red by the Commissio n and cert ification by the Commissio n that the attorney has com pleted th e minimum continuing legal educat io n requi rements. that brought about the suspensio n. T he attorney request ing reinstatementshall have com pleted fifteen (1 5) hours of approved cont inuing legal educat io n fo r each 12

- mo nt h period th e attorney was on inact ive status o r suspended fro m th e practice of

l aw. Th e total

c ontinuing legal education requirement under all of the fo regoing shall not exceed thi

rty (30) ho urs. The Commission ma y consider hours of approved continuing legal educat io n that the attorney has co mp leted wi thin twent y- fo ur (24) mo nt hs prior to the applicat io n fo r reinstatement. Upon a showing of

g ood cause, th e Court may waive th e continuing leg al e ducation requi rement for that year on the condi tion that the attorney

agrees to change to inactive status. Rule 14 - CLE Requirement Upon Change From VoluntaryInactive to Active Status This rule applies to an attorney who v ol untarily swi

tched fro m a ct ive to inact ive status and who applies fo r reinstatement to active status . Wi thin six (6) mo nt hs of

reinstatement to active status by th e Court, th e attorney s hall co mp lete fifteen (15) hours of a pproved continuing legal education fo r each 12

- mo nt h period of inact ive status, not to exceed a total of thi rty ( 30) hours. The Commission

m ay consider hours of

approved continuing legal education which the member has com pleted wi thin twent y- fo ur (24) months prior to the application fo r reinstatement to active status. At torneys who believe th ei r occupations during inact ive status are sufficient to warrant readmissio n to active status wi thout being requi

red to make up continuing legal educat io n credit s may submi

t pet it io ns to th e Court fo r such re - admissio n setting fo rth the grounds fo r re admissio n. At torneys who believe th ei r occupations during inact ive status are sufficient to warrant readmissio n to active status wi thout being requi

red to make up continuing legal educat io n credit s may submi

t pet it io ns to th e Co urt fo r such re - admissio n setting fo rth the grounds fo r re admissio n. If an act ive me mber requests to beco me an inactive member, the continuing legal education requi rement may be waived for the preceding year. Rule 15 - Confidentiality Unless oth erwi se d ir ected by th e Supreme Court or these Rules, th e files, records and proceedings of

t he Co mmissio n, as they relate to or arise out of a ny failure of

a ny attorney

t o satisfy th e requirements of these Rules, shall be deemed confidential and shall not be dis clos ed, except in furtherance of

t he duti es of

t he Co mmissio n, upon the request of t he Commissio n on Practice, or the attorney a ffected, or as int roduced int o evidence or otherwise produced in proceedings under these Rules. After the Supreme Court Co mmiss io n suspends di rects the State Bar of M ontana to transferan attorney fro m th e practice of l aw , to inactive status t he mat ter beco me s one of public record and is no longer confidential.