North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 27 - STATE BAR › Chapter 01 - RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE BAR › Subchapter D - RULES OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE BAR › Section .3000 - CERTIFICATION STANDARDS FOR THE APPELLATE PRACTICE SPECIALTY › Section 01D .3005 - STANDARDS FOR CERTIFICATION AS A SPECIALIST IN APPELLATE PRACTICE

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
Each applicant for certification as a specialist in
					 appellate practice shall meet the minimum standards set forth in Rule .1720 of
					 this Subchapter. In addition, each applicant shall meet the following standards
					 for certification in appellate practice:
(a) Licensure and Practice. An applicant
				  shall be licensed and in good standing to practice law in North Carolina as of
				  the date of application. An applicant shall continue to be licensed and in good
				  standing to practice law in North Carolina during the period of
				  certification.
(b) Substantial
				  Involvement. An applicant shall affirm to the board that the applicant has
				  experience through substantial involvement in appellate practice.
(1) Substantial involvement shall mean that
				  during the five years immediately preceding the application, the applicant
				  devoted an average of at least 400 hours a year, and not less than 100 hours in
				  any one year, to appellate practice. "Practice" shall mean substantive legal
				  work done primarily for the purpose of providing legal advice or representation
				  including activities described in Paragraph (2) below, or a practice equivalent
				  as described in Paragraph (3) below.
(2) Substantive legal work in appellate
				  practice includes, but is not limited to, the following: preparation of a
				  record on appeal or joint appendix for filing in any state or federal appellate
				  court; researching, drafting, or editing of a legal brief, motion, petition, or
				  response for filing in any state or federal appellate court; participation in
				  or preparation for oral argument before any state or federal appellate court;
				  appellate mediation, either as the representative of a party or as a mediator,
				  in any state or federal appellate court; consultation on issues of appellate
				  practice including consultation with trial counsel for the purpose of
				  preserving a record for appeal; service on a committee or commission whose
				  principal focus is the study or revision of the rules of appellate procedure of
				  the North Carolina or federal courts; authoring a treatise, text, law review
				  article, or other scholarly work relating to appellate practice; teaching
				  appellate advocacy at an ABA accredited law school; and coaching in appellate
				  moot court programs.
(3) "Practice
				  equivalent" shall include the following activities:
(A) Service as a trial judge for any North
				  Carolina General Court of Justice, United States Bankruptcy Court, or United
				  States District Court, including service as a magistrate judge, for one year or
				  more may be substituted for one year of experience toward the five-year
				  requirement set forth in Rule .3005(b)(1).
(B) Service as a full-time, compensated law
				  clerk for any North Carolina or federal appellate court for one year or more
				  may be substituted for one year of experience toward the five-year requirement
				  set forth in Rule .3005(b)(1).
(C)
				  Service as an appellate judge for any North Carolina or federal appellate court
				  may be substituted for the equivalent years of experience toward the five-year
				  requirement set forth in Rule .3005(b)(1) as long as the applicant's
				  experience, before the applicant took the bench, included substantial
				  involvement in appellate practice (as defined in Paragraph (b)(1)) for two
				  years before the applicant's service as an appellate judge.
(4) An applicant must also
				  demonstrate substantial involvement in appellate practice by providing
				  information regarding the applicant's participation during his or her legal
				  career in the following:
(A) Five oral
				  arguments to any state or federal appellate court; and
(B) Principal authorship of 10 briefs
				  submitted to any state or federal appellate court.