Pennsylvania Code › Title 204 - JUDICIAL SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS › Part IV - ADMISSION TO PRACTICE LAW › Chapter 71 - PENNSYLVANIA BAR ADMISSION RULES › Subchapter B - ADMISSION TO THE BAR GENERALLY › IN GENERAL › Rule 204 - Admission by reciprocity

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
As an alternative to satisfying the requirements of Rule
						203, an attorney, licensed to practice law in another state, may be admitted to
						the bar of this Commonwealth if the applicant meets the following
						requirements:
(1) Has completed the
					 study of law at and received without exception an earned Bachelor of Laws or
					 Juris Doctor degree from a law school that was an accredited law school at the
					 time the applicant matriculated or graduated.
(2) Is a member of the bar of a reciprocal
					 state on active status at the time of filing of the application for admission
					 to the bar of this Commonwealth.
(3) Presentation of a certificate of good
					 standing from the highest court or agency having jurisdiction over admission to
					 the bar and the practice of law in every state or jurisdiction in which the
					 applicant has been admitted to practice law, stating that the applicant is in
					 good professional standing at the bar of such court or such state. An applicant
					 who is disbarred or suspended for disciplinary reasons from the practice of law
					 in another jurisdiction at the time of filing an application for admission to
					 the bar shall not be eligible for admission to the bar of this
					 Commonwealth.
(4) Presentation of
					 proof satisfactory to the Board that the applicant has for a period of five
					 years of the last seven years immediately preceding the date of filing of the
					 application for admission to the bar of this Commonwealth devoted a major
					 portion of time and energy to the practice of law in one or more
					 states.
(5) Presentation of proof
					 satisfactory to the Board that the applicant has either taken and passed the
					 bar examination in a reciprocal state or has devoted a major portion of time
					 and energy to the practice of law in a reciprocal state for five years of the
					 last seven years immediately preceding the date on which an application was
					 filed under this Rule.
(6)
					 Satisfaction of the requirements of Paragraphs (a)(1), (b)(2) and (b)(3) of
					 Rule 203.
For purposes of this rule, the phrase "practice of law"
						is defined as engaging in any of the following legal activities, provided such
						activities were performed in a state in which the applicant was admitted to
						practice law or in a state that affirmatively permitted such activity by a
						lawyer not admitted to practice law in the jurisdiction:
(i) Representation of one or more clients in
					 the private practice of law.
(ii)
					 Providing legal services as an attorney with a local, state or federal
					 agency.
(iii) Teaching law full
					 time at an accredited law school, college or university in the United States,
					 provided a substantial portion of such time was spent teaching at an accredited
					 law school.
(iv) Service as a judge
					 in a federal, state or local court of record.
(v) Service full time as a judicial law clerk
					 to any judge of any court of the United States or of any state or territory of
					 the United States.
(vi) Service as
					 corporate counsel.
(vii) Performing
					 legal functions while serving on active duty in the United States military
					 service as a judge advocate as defined in the Uniform Code of Military Justice,
					 10 U.S.C. §
													801, as amended.
The term "practice of law" shall not include providing
						legal services in any of the above referenced areas, when such services as
						undertaken constituted the unauthorized practice of law in the state in which
						the legal services were performed or in the state in which the clients
						receiving the unauthorized services were located.