D.C. Court of Appeals to Assist Attorneys Affected by Hurricane Katrina

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Leah Gurowitz 879-1700 September 20, 2005


D.C. Court of Appeals to Assist Attorneys Affected by Hurricane Katrina
-- Lawyers from affected states allowed to temporarily locate practice in DC --.


WASHINGTON, D.C. – Chief Judge Eric T. Washington of the D.C. Court of Appeals announced today that the Court has issued an Order making it clear that attorneys displaced by Hurricane Katrina may temporarily operate their practice in D.C. without running afoul of the Unauthorized Practice of Law rules. “We realize that there are lawyers from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who may want to conduct their practice from the District, temporarily. In an effort to lighten the burden of their evacuation and relocation process, and to assist the justice systems in the affected states, the Court has made it clear that attorneys displaced by Hurricane Katrina can temporarily practice from the District of Columbia without running afoul of Rule 49 of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals which governs the unauthorized practice of law,” said Chief Judge Washington. “This Court wants to do everything it can to assist the courts, the parties, the judges and the lawyers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

The order issued today by the full D.C. Court of Appeals allows attorneys displaced by the hurricane to “practice law until February 28, 2006, from a location in the District of Columbia as if the attorney were located in the attorney’s home jurisdiction.” Attorneys practicing under this rule are responsible for making clear to clients that they are not admitted to practice in the District of Columbia. A memorandum and copy of the order were sent to the BarAssociations and Supreme Courts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, as well as the American Bar Association.

Chief Judge Washington closed his memorandum to his colleagues in the affected region by expressing the Court’s sympathy over the tragedy: “We share the nation’s sorrow over the tragedy that has befallen your states, and hope that this accommodation to your states’ attorneys will aid in the restoration of a fully functioning system of justice…”




September 20, 2005

TO: Supreme Courts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama
State Bar Associations of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama
American Bar Association

FROM: Eric T. Washington
Chief Judge

SUBJECT: Temporary Admission to Practice Law from the District of Columbia

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the District of Columbia Bar offer our best wishes in your efforts to recover from the disaster wrought by Hurricane Katrina and to re-establish a functioning system of justice in your states. At the request of the Presidents of the District of Columbia Bar and the American Bar Association, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals has approved an order clarifying the court’s rules regarding the unauthorized practice of law to permit lawyers from your states who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina to continue to practice while temporarily residing in the District of Columbia. The rule permits lawyers from your states, who are in good standing, to practice law until February 28, 2006, from a location in the District of Columbia as if they were located in the attorney’s home jurisdiction. Enclosed is a copy of the subject order, which was filed this date.

We share the nation’s sorrow over the tragedy that has befallen your states, and hope that this accommodation to your states’ attorneys will aid in the restoration of a fully functioning system of justice in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Please feel free to call upon me or my colleagues if we can be of further assistance during these difficult times.

1 Enclosure


District of Columbia
Court of Appeals



No. M-224-05

BEFORE: Washington, Chief Judge; Terry, Schwelb, Farrell, Wagner, Ruiz, Reid, Glickman, and Kramer, Associate Judges

ORDER AUTHORIZING PRACTICE OF LAW BY ATTORNEYS DISPLACED BY HURRICANE KATRINA.

WHEREAS Hurricane Katrina has caused widespread devastation that made it impossible to live or practice law in substantial portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and forced thousands of residents to relocate to other jurisdictions, including the District of Columbia;

WHEREAS the evacuees include attorneys licensed in those states with professional obligations to their clients;

WHEREAS the District of Columbia Bar and the American Bar Association have asked that courts accommodate the practice needs of lawyers displaced by Hurricane Katrina; and

WHEREAS it is in the interests of justice to avoid uncertainty about whether Rule 49 of the Rules of this Court permits displaced lawyers to continue to practice while temporarily residing in the District of Columbia;

Now, therefore, it is hereby ORDERED that:

Notwithstanding anything in Rule 49, an attorney who is an active member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of Louisiana, Mississippi, or Alabama, and who has been displaced from the attorney’s home jurisdiction due to Hurricane Katrina, is permitted to practice law until February 28, 2006, from a location in the District of Columbia as if the attorney were located in the attorney’s home jurisdiction.

Any attorney practicing law from a location in the District of Columbia pursuant to this Order shall inform clients and other persons to whom the attorney holds out as an attorney that the attorney is not admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

ENTERED BY DIRECTION OF THE COURT



GARLAND PINKSTON, JR., Clerk


September 20, 2005