Ride the Lightning

ABA Urged to Eliminate Geographic Restrictions on Law Practice

April 21, 2022

As many readers know, I frequently lecture on the future of law practice. In that sector of my world, it was big news to read in Bob Ambrogi’s April 18 LawSites blog post that the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL) is urging the American Bar Association to adopt a new version of Model Rule 5.5 that would eliminate the traditional state-based limitation on law practice, which allows lawyers to practice only in the states in which they are admitted.

“Our proposal advocates that a lawyer admitted in any United States jurisdiction should be able to practice law and represent willing clients without regard to the geographic location of the lawyer or the client, without regard to the forum where the services are to be provided, and without regard to which jurisdiction’s rules apply at a given moment in time,” APRL President Brian Faughman said in a letter to ABA President Reginald M. Turner.

An APRL committee spent several years studying the future of lawyering, Faughman said in the letter. Its first action item was to issue a report calling for replacement of the current “anachronistic” Model Rule 5.5 with a new version of 5.5 that would allow multi-jurisdictional practice. APRL’s board voted to adopt the proposed revised rule in March, Faughman said.

Big news in the “future of law” world . . .  stay tuned for further developments.

Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., President, Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
3975 University Drive, Suite 225, Fairfax, VA 22030
Email:   Phone: 703-359-0700
Digital Forensics/Cybersecurity/Information Technology
https://senseient.com
https://twitter.com/sharonnelsonesq
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharondnelson
https://amazon.com/author/sharonnelson