Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-08-11
County Court
Tells Lawyers
To Get Offices
Montgomery Rule
To Affect 400
D. c. Attorneys


neyS practicing before the
Montgomery County Circuit
Court to maintain bona fide
offices" in Maryland has been
signed by the five judges of
the court.
The ruling, effective Tues
day, will affect approximately
400 District lawyers and nu-
merous Federal Government
attorneys who now maintain
offices in their Maryland
homes.
The effect of the ruling is
similar to District and Virginia
bar regulations. It also is
similar to provisions of a con-
troversial bill that was defeated
in the Maryland General AS
sembly last session.
The circuit court defined a
bona fide" office as IAN office
where. the attorney spends a
reasonable amount of time"
Office Defined
The unsuccessful General
Assembly bill and a Montgom-
cry County Bar Association
recommendation to the judges
defined q bona fide office as
one in which the persons shall
spend a substantial portion of
normal business hours" from
8 am. to 4 pm.
The ruling, signed quietly
last Tuesday, says no office
in a home shall qualify &.
unless such office is in fact
q bona fide office"
Howard M. Smith, assign
ment commissioner of the cir
cult court, emphasized that
the ruling was for the con-
venience of the court" He said
its purpose was to make at
torneys accessible to the court
during working hours"
Amplifies Rules
District and Government
attorneys may practice before
the Montgomery court, under
the new ruling, if they associate
themselves with an attorney
having q bona fide office.
The ruling amplifies, Mr..
Smith said. the previous regu-
lation which required attorneys
to be Maryland residents and
admitted to practice before the
Court of Appeals.
Carlton Sickles, a Prince
Georges County resident with
District law offices, said he
felt the ruling was not simed
only at Government attorneys,
who are "so-called sun
downers. Mr.. Sickles, who led
the fight against the bill in
the General Assembly, said
'if this were true the ruling
should specify bona fide offices
in the Metropolitan Area.
Joseph Barse, q District
lawyer who lives in WeStgate,
Md, estimated it would effect
roughly 400 or 500 District
lawyers"
Similar Requirements
Other jurisdictions in the
Metropolitan Area also have
residency or office require
ments for practicing attorneys.
While practicing District
Court lawyers need not be resi-
dents, they must maintain an
office. Attorneys practicing in
Virginia must be residents and
sign a pledge they Intend to
practice law full time as a
member of the Virginia Var" on
admission to the bar, a State
Supreme Court spokesman said.
Like Montgomery County, the
District and Virginia allow out
side attorneys to "join in rec
ord" with a local attorney. This
usually requires a fee be paid
to the local attorney for each
case.
The District Bar Associations
board Of directors has asked
District Court to change its
rules relating to lawyers per-
mitted to practice in the court.
The same request has been
made to Municipal Court Chief
Judge John Lewis Smith, but
he has said that he wants the
District Court to make the rule
change first.
Under this request lawyers
having offices in political SUBJ
divisions Immediately adjacent
to the District would be allowed
to practice in the two courts.