Rules Committee to consider letting foreign attorneys act as consultants in Md.

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The Rules Committee is considering an amendment to the Maryland Attorneys Rules of Professional Conduct on the unauthorized practice of law that would allow foreign attorneys to act as consultants and work with a Maryland attorneys in legal disputes.

The addition, largely based on an amendment to the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct, would allow a foreign attorney to consult on the law and practice in the country where they are licensed. The foreign attorney would have to work with a Maryland attorney, who would be fully responsible to the client for all advice and other conduct, the proposed rule states.

This section would not allow a foreign attorney to be admitted pro hac vice to a legal proceeding, but would allow a foreign attorney to be present with a Maryland attorney at a judicial, administrative or alternative dispute resolution proceeding as a consultant based on their international law expertise, or to testify as an expert witness, the Rules Committee says.

The committee will consider the rule change at its meeting Thursday in Annapolis.

The proposed change comes after Court of Appeals Chief Judge Mary Ellen Barbera asked the Rules Committee to look into the American Bar Association proposal on allowing the limited practice of law in the U.S. by foreign attorneys in April 2015, according to the Rules Committee agenda.

Under current Maryland rules, a foreign attorney who is not licensed in the state or admitted in another state or U.S. jurisdiction is not allowed to practice law.

The committee waited on considering the amendment until a report by the Maryland State Bar Association’s International Law Committee on the matter was finalized in November 2016. The report recommended foreign attorneys should be allowed to “gain foreign legal consultant status” and should be governed through the Rules Committee using the ABA Model Rule.

The MSBA committee also found other states require foreign attorneys to be in good standing in the legal profession in their home country and limit their practice in the U.S. to their law practice area in their home country, the Rules Committee states.

It’s rare for states to receive applications from foreign attorneys to be consultants, except for in a few jurisdictions including New York, California, Texas, Florida and the District of Columbia, the MSBA committee found.