ABA to consider temporary power for foreign lawyers

The American Bar Association is poised to vote on a new model rule which would allow foreign lawyers to practise on a temporary basis in the US.

The proposed rule - which, if passed, would be persuasive but not binding on individual states - sets out five circumstances under which foreign lawyers can practise temporarily without needed to work from an established office in the US.

These are broadly: if working with a US lawyer; if the work is related to potential proceedings outside the US; if it is related to potential alternative dispute resolution proceedings outside the US; if it for a client who resides or has an office in the lawyer's home jurisdiction; and if the services are governed primarily by international law or the law of a non-US jurisdiction.

The ABA's ruling House of Delegates will vote in August at the association's annual conference in Washington.

LINKS: www.abanet.org/cpr/mjp-home.html