As noted in an earlier article in the Pro Bono Wire and on the Corporate Pro Bono (CPBO) website, one potential obstacle to greater in-house pro bono participation is the fact that some in-house corporate attorneys, though admitted and in good standing in one or more jurisdictions, are not licensed in the states in which they currently work. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of Jeff Hyman at Intel Corporation, the Oregon State Bar, and several law firms, the Oregon State Bar recently amended Admissions Rule 16.05 on the Admission of House Counsel.  The House Counsel Rule allows attorneys who have been admitted to the practice of law in another state to practice law as house counsel in Oregon.  Until recently, attorneys admitted under the House Counsel Rule were limited to practicing exclusively for the business entity and were not authorized to appear before a court or to offer legal services to the public.

At the end of 2007, however, the Access to Justice Committee of the Oregon State Bar proposed an amendment to the House Counsel Rule allowing house counsel to provide a full range of legal services to pro bono clients through an Oregon State Bar Certified Pro Bono Program.  Attorneys providing such services receive malpractice coverage for their pro bono work through the Professional Liability Fund.  The Oregon State Bar Board of Governors approved the Amendment, as did the Oregon Supreme Court, and house counsel can now seek pro bono opportunities in Oregon.

While some states provide exceptions to their unauthorized practice rules or registration systems for corporate counsel who are not admitted in the state in which they practice, other states are studying or have recently passed multi-jurisdictional practice rule reforms that authorize in-house lawyers to provide legal advice to their corporate clients.  However, a large number of state rules do not allow for such non-locally admitted counsel to represent low-income persons or nonprofit groups on a pro bono basis.

It is important to note that similar efforts to allow such pro bono representation are taking place in Illinois, at the instigation of a coalition of legal leaders formed by the legal department of Caterpillar Inc.  The Illinois Supreme Court has already approved the rule change.  Furthermore, in an effort to share interests and ideas and create a broad-based approach to this obstacle, CPBO has formed a task force composed of in-house counsel from jurisdictions impacted by these restrictive rules, including Arizona, New York, California, Illinois, Connecticut, Virginia, Washington and other locations.  To learn more about in-house practice rules governing pro bono, please contact Eve Runyon, CPBO director, at erunyon@probonoinst.org or 202.729.6694.

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