Opinion ID: 3163860
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: admission on motion

Text: An applicant who meets the requirements of this Rule may move for admission to the practice of law in Montana. The applicant: 1. must be a graduate of a law school formally accredited by the American Bar Association; 2. must have been admitted by bar examination to practice law and engaged in the active practice of law for at least five of the seven years preceding application to Montana in one or more states, territories, or protectorates of the United States or the District of Columbia; 3. may never have been denied admission to practice law in Montana or any other jurisdiction because of character or fitness deficiency; 4. may not have taken and failed the Montana Uniform Bar Examination within the five years preceding application under this Rule; 5. may not be or ever have been admitted to the practice of law in Montana, unless the applicant voluntarily withdrew or resigned from the bar of Montana while in good standing or practiced under pro hac vice admission or an order of temporary admission issued by the Montana Supreme Court; 6. may not have been previously denied admission to practice on application or motion to practice law in Montana or any other jurisdiction unless the applicant’s motion was denied for the sole reason that he or she exceeded the number of allowed pro hac vice admissions; 7. may not ever have been previously engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in Montana or any other jurisdiction; 8. must currently be a member in good standing in every jurisdiction in which the applicant is or was admitted to practice law. If at the time of 12 application the applicant is not admitted to practice in a state, territory, or protectorate of the United States or the District of Columbia, the applicant shall establish that the applicant resigned in good standing. An applicant who is disbarred or suspended for any reason from the practice of law in another jurisdiction at the time of filing an application for admission on motion will not be admitted on motion; 9. shall submit evidence of a passing scaled score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination as described in Rule VII; 10. shall establish to the satisfaction of the Commission on Character and Fitness that the applicant possesses the character and fitness to practice law in Montana; and 11. shall submit evidence of completed in-person attendance at the Montana Law Seminar as provided in Rule VIII.
An applicant shall promptly amend the application in the event any information on the application is incorrect or has been affected by intervening conduct or events.
The applicant must furnish the following documents with the application, in addition to any other information that may be required: 1. a copy of the certification of moral character and fitness by the Commission on Character and Fitness; 2. a transcript authenticated by and sent from a law school formally accredited by the American Bar Association evidencing the applicant’s graduation with a Juris Doctor or Bachelor of Laws and Letters degree from the law school; 3. a certificate of admission, currently valid license to practice law, or certificate of good standing from each jurisdiction in which the applicant is admitted; 13 4. a letter from the grievance or disciplinary entity of each state, district, territory, protectorate, province, or foreign country in which the applicant is admitted indicating that there are no pending disciplinary complaints or charges against the applicant; 5. a certificate from the highest court in each jurisdiction relied upon by the applicant to satisfy the active practice of law durational requirements in this Rule certifying that: a. the applicant has been admitted to engage in the active practice of law in that jurisdiction for at least five of the seven years immediately preceding the date of the certificate; b. the applicant is in good standing in the bar of that jurisdiction and has not been disbarred or placed under disciplinary suspension, or has not resigned from that bar while under disciplinary investigation; c. the applicant is not the subject of any pending disciplinary complaints or proceedings in that jurisdiction; and d. if the applicant had been suspended or disbarred, that the applicant has been duly reinstated; and 6. the applicant’s affidavit providing a detailed description of the applicant’s active practice of law for the required durational period in each applicable jurisdiction and how the practice satisfied the active practice requirement of this Rule.
1. “Active practice of law” means active and continuous engagement or employment in the performance of legal services and includes the following activities if performed or treated as performed while the applicant was admitted in active status: a. representation of one or more clients in the practice of law; b. service as a lawyer with a United States local, state, 14 territorial, or federal agency, including military service with any branch of the United States military; c. teaching at a law school formally accredited by the American Bar Association; d. service as a judge in a local, state, territorial, or federal court of record of the United States; e. service as a judicial law clerk in a local, state, territorial, or federal court of record of the United States, which service was performed after admission to practice in the jurisdiction in which the service was performed; f. service as in-house counsel provided to the applicant’s employer or its organizational affiliates, which service was performed after admission to practice in the jurisdiction in which the service was performed; g. service as a lawyer in Montana pursuant to temporary admission by order of the Montana Supreme Court; or h. any combination of the above. The active practice of law does not include work that, as undertaken, constituted the unauthorized practice of law in the jurisdiction in which it was performed or in the jurisdiction in which the clients receiving the unauthorized services were located. 2. “Engagement or employment in the performance of legal services” means that during each of the required five years in the durational period, the applicant spent at least one thousand hours per year engaged in one or more of the activities listed in Rule V.D.1.
An applicant seeking admission to the practice of law on motion shall comply with Rules V.A. through V.D. and shall: 15 1. file an application for admission on motion, including character and fitness investigation information and all required supporting documents; 2. pay an application fee as provided in Rule I.G.5, unless the fee is waived pursuant to that Rule. The application fee may not be refunded or credited for any reason, including but not limited to denial of admission, withdrawal of the application, or failure to pursue admission after application, regardless of the date of notification by the applicant or the Bar Admissions Administrator; and 3. pay all costs, including the applicant’s individual costs, associated with the application or with any investigation or hearing conducted pursuant to this Rule.