Opinion ID: 1139555
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: petitioner smith had a right to appear pro hac vice under the reciprocal provisions of the oklahoma statutes governing admission of out of state attorneys.

Text: Title 5, O.S. 1971, §§ 17; 17.1; 17.2 provide, inter alia, that a lawyer who is not admitted to practice in Oklahoma, but who is a regularly admitted practicing attorney in a foreign state, may be admitted, pro hac vice, to practice in an Oklahoma judicial or quasi-judicial tribunal, upon filing written application, taking oath, and associating himself with Oklahoma counsel. 5 O.S. 1971, § 17 et seq., however, are not exclusively controlling. The inherent power of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma to control the practice of law is found in the case of In re: Integration of the State Bar of Oklahoma, 185 Okl. 302, 95 P.2d 113 (1939) in syllabus by the Court: 1. The Supreme Court is entrusted with the power and duty to determine the qualifications for admission to the bar, and also has the power and duty to determine when those qualifications are wanting, and when the privilege of practicing law has been forfeited. 2. The practice of law and the determination of when the right to practice has ceased are so intimately connected and bound up with the exercise of judicial power in the administration of justice that the right to define and regulate is inherent to the judicial department and belongs to the Supreme Court. 3. The term inherent power of the judiciary means that power which is essential to the existence, dignity and functions of the judiciary. 4. This court having the inherent power to determine the qualifications for admission to the bar, and the power and duty to determine when the privilege of practicing law has been forfeited, has, in the exercise of sound judicial discretion, the power to promulgate rules to create, control, regulate and integrate the Bar of the State of Oklahoma. Also see: Ford v. Board of Tax Roll Collections, Okl., 431 P.2d 423 (1967). Under the authority of Article IV, § 1, Okla.Const. (1907) and Article VII, §§ 1 and 4, Okla.Const. (1967), and by reason of In re: Integration of the State Bar, supra, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma has created an association of members of the Bar of the State of Oklahoma and promulgated rules governing the practice of law in this State. These rules are found in Title 5, O.S. 1971, Ch. 1, App. 1. Section 5 of Art. 2 thereof, provides: SECTION 5. ATTORNEYS FROM OTHER JURISDICTIONS. An attorney duly admitted and presently qualified to practice in the Courts of record of another State or territory or of a foreign country may be permitted to practice before any court, or before any board, department, commission or other administrative tribunal or agency of this state, solely for the purpose of conducting an action or a proceeding in which he has been employed which is pending in such court, tribunal, or agency, upon the following express conditions: ...... (d) If it appears that the foreign attorney has wilfully engaged in disorderly or disruptive tactics of such character as to interfere with the proper and efficient conduct of proceedings and the due administration of justice in any court or tribunal in which he has practiced, admission may be refused. Section 5, sub-paragraph (d), above quoted, is consistent with controlling case law in other jurisdictions. Florida has a reciprocity rule, much like that of Oklahoma's, for permitting an out of state lawyer to appear in the Florida courts. It was held in Parker v. Parker (Fla.App. 1957) 97 So.2d 136, 137: The right of an attorney of another state to practice is permissive and subject to the sound discretion of the court to which he applies for the permission. A contention analogous to that of petitioner's numbered I was considered by the Supreme Court of New Jersey which held in State v. Kavanaugh (1968) 52 N.J. 7, 243 A.2d 225: Mister Baileys' client's urge a constitutional right to select an attorney who is not a member of our Bar. So long as the Bar of our State is able, willing and free to provide effective counsel, there is no such right. Kavanaugh, supra, was predicated upon Thomas v. Cassidy (4th Cir., 1957) 249 F.2d 91; cert. denied, Fitzgerald v. Cassidy, 355 U.S. 958, 78 S.Ct. 544, 2 L.Ed.2d 533 (1953) in which the following language is found: It is well settled that permission to a nonresident attorney, who has not been admitted to practice in a court, to appear pro hac vice in a case there pending is not a right but a privilege, the granting of which is a matter of grace resting in the sound discretion of the presiding judge. 5 Am.Jur. p. 572; Manning v. Roanoke & T.R. Co., 122 N.C. 824, 28 S.E. 963; Youmans v. Hanna, 35 N.D. 479, 160 N.W. 705, 161 N.W. 797, Ann. Cas. 1917E, 263; Note 24 L.R.A.,N.S., 754. More recently, it was held in State v. Ross, 36 Ohio App. 185, 304 N.E.2d 396, 399: It has, however, been generally recognized that an attorney not admitted to practice in Ohio, but in good standing in another state, may be specially admitted for the purpose of representing a person in a particular case, be it civil or criminal. Whether or not so to specially permit an attorney not admitted to practice in Ohio, but admitted to practice and in good standing in another state, to represent a party in a particular action, is a matter lying within the sound discretion of the trial court. Concluding that admission of an out of state lawyer, pro hac vice, under the Rules Governing the Practice of Law in Oklahoma above cited, and the cases herein referred to, rests within sound judicial discretion, we next query the bounds of judicial discretion regarding such a matter. We are highly persuaded by Standard 3.5 and the commentary thereto at pages 45 and 46 of the Standards Relating to the Functions of the Trial Judge, Standards for Criminal Justice, Institute of Judicial Administration, American Bar Association, Approved Draft, 1972. ATTORNEYS FROM OTHER JURISDICTIONS. If an attorney who is not admitted to practice in the jurisdiction of the Court petitions for permission to represent a defendant, the trial judge may (a) Deny such permission if the attorney has been held in contempt of Court, or otherwise formally disciplined for courtroom misconduct, or if it appears by reliable evidence that he has engaged in courtroom misconduct sufficient to warrant disciplinary action; COMMENTARY: Great deference should be given to the request of a defendant to be represented by counsel of his choice. Yet there is no absolute right to be represented by counsel who is not admitted to practice in the jurisdiction of the court. Sub-para. (a) sets forth some grounds (by no means exclusive) upon which a judge might justifiably decline to permit counsel to be specially admitted;    With the objective of minimizing the risk that a trial be aborted by misconduct of counsel, no rigid rules are appropriate, however, and each application should be considered on its own circumstances.    If the judicial system of this country and state is to function in the orderly manner contemplated by the Constitution of the United States and the Oklahoma Constitution, a trial court must retain the inherent power to protect the integrity of legal proceedings about to commence before it against potentially disruptive, or disorderly influences. If, after evidentiary hearing, a trial judge, in the exercise of sound judicial discretion, finds that the admission of an out of state attorney pro hac vice, is fraught with potential abusive misconduct or patent misrepresentations on the part of foreign counsel seeking to be admitted, the application for admission pro hac vice, should be refused. We therefore conclude Petitioner's first contention to be without merit.