1245 Proposed amendments to the rules of organization and procedure of the Board relating to continuing legal education requirements before reinstatement

PART V.  PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND CONDUCT

[204 PA. CODE CH. 89]

Proposed Amendments to the Rules of Organization and Procedure of the Board Relating to Continuing Legal Education Requirements Before Reinstatement

[26 Pa.B. 3626]

   Notice is hereby given that The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is considering amending its Rules of Organization and Procedure as set forth in Annex A.

   The purpose of the proposed amendments is to clarify the existing provision in the Rules of the Disciplinary Board at 204 Pa. Code § 89.279 regarding the continuing legal education courses that must be completed before a petition for reinstatement is filed. A formerly admitted attorney who has been disbarred or suspended for more than one year or who has been on inactive status for more than three years is required by 204 Pa. Code § 89.279(a) to complete a minimum number of continuing legal education courses before petitioning for reinstatement. When that requirement was adopted, it was at a time when the Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board had not yet been established. As a result, the current rule refers only to courses offered by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. The Disciplinary Board is proposing to eliminate the reference to the Pennsylvania Bar Institute so that courses offered by other providers approved by the Continuing Legal Education Board may also be accepted by the Disciplinary Board. In order to give the Disciplinary Board flexibility to adjust its requirements to the courses being offered at the time, the Disciplinary Board is also proposing to eliminate from § 89.279(c) the list of course subjects that must be taken.

   Interested persons are invited to submit written comments regarding the proposed amendments to the Office of the Secretary, The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, First Floor, Two Lemoyne Drive, Lemoyne, PA 17043, on or before August 30, 1996.

By The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of
    Pennsylvania

ELAINE BIXLER,   
Secretary

Annex A

TITLE 204.  JUDICIAL SYSTEM
GENERAL PROVISIONS

PART V.  PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND CONDUCT

CHAPTER 89.  FORMAL PROCEEDINGS

Subchapter F.  REINSTATEMENT AND RESUMPTION OF PRACTICE

REINSTATEMENT OF FORMERLY ADMITTED ATTORNEYS

§ 89.279.  Evidence of competency and learning in law.

   (a)  General rule. Except as provided in subsection (b), in order to permit the Board to determine under Enforcement Rule 218 (relating to reinstatement) whether a formerly admitted attorney who has been disbarred or suspended for more than one year or who has been on inactive status for more than three years possesses the competency and learning in the law required for reinstatement to practice in this Commonwealth, such a formerly admitted attorney shall within one year preceding the filing of the petition for reinstatement take (and prior to hearing on the petition, complete) courses [or lectures] meeting the requirements of the current schedule [of subjects] published by the Office of the Secretary under subsection (c).

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   (c)  [Schedule of subjects] Publication of schedule. At least annually the Office of the Secretary shall publish in the Pennsylvania Bulletin a schedule of the minimum [number and type of Pennsylvania Bar Institute courses and lectures which] amount, type and subjects of continuing legal education courses that will satisfy the requirements of subsection (a). [Except as otherwise provided in the currently published schedule, courses or lectures on the following subjects will satisfy the requirements of subsection (a):

   (1)  Estate planning, creditor's remedies and bankruptcy, civil litigation, business law, administration of estates, consumer transactions, real estate transactions, and family law; or

   (2)  In place of any two of the courses or lectures in the preceding paragraph, criminal procedure, or criminal trial techniques.]

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[Pa.B. Doc. No. 96-1245. Filed for public inspection August 2, 1996, 9:00 a.m.]