Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAn amended rule granting temporary licenses to out-of-state attorneys who are waiting for admission to the Indiana bar will now include lawyers working as deputy prosecutors and some attorneys working at the Indiana Department of Child Services.
Justices in a May 12 order amended Rule 6.1 of the Rules for Admission to the bar and the Discipline of Attorneys, regarding the issuance of temporary licenses to practice law in Indiana.
Rule 6.1 is intended to permit attorneys admitted in other states who have applications pending in Indiana to start working immediately in offices that serve the community and where the need is great, according to Indiana Supreme Court Chief Public Information Officer Kathryn Dolan.
“It poses a hardship for these offices if they have to wait for several months while an attorney’s application for admission is pending,” Dolan said in an email to Indiana Lawyer.
Section 1 of the newly amended rule states that a person admitted to the bar in another state who is in good standing and has no pending disciplinary proceedings in each state of admission may be granted a temporary license to practice law in Indiana “if the person has applied for admission to the Indiana bar, either on examination or on foreign license” and meets at least one of several qualifications.
The amended qualifications now include being employed full-time as an attorney for the Indiana Department of Child Services providing litigation services in child welfare cases, or being employed full-time as a deputy prosecutor.
Additionally, attorneys authorized to practice under Rule 6.1 — now including those who work for DCS or a prosecutor’s office — should not perform other legal services except as provided under Section 1 and should not request compensation for services except for their salary provided by their respective employers.
Amendments made by the high court went into effect immediately, according to the order signed by Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.