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Hundreds May Run Afoul Of New Law

Failure to register with state could lead to disciplinary measures

By DOUGLAS S. MALAN

At the close of business on Monday, there could be hundreds of in-house counsel for Connecticut companies practicing law illegally in the state. But whether they will be prosecuted is another matter, as the state's budget crisis will likely hamstring the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel.

July 1 is when lawyers who work for corporations in Connecticut, but who lack a state license, lose the opportunity to register with the state's Bar Examining Committee under a "safe-harbor" provision that's been available since Jan. 1.

Newly created Section 2-15A of the Connecticut Practice Book allowed these lawyers to qualify as authorized house counsel by filing a notarized application and a $1,000 application fee to avoid being guilty of practicing without a license.

But based on the number of applications Bar Examining Committee Administrative Director Kathleen B. Wood had received by last Wednesday, there are many lawyers who will be violation of Unauthorized Practice of Law rules, which is a misdemeanor.

Wood had 543 applications on file, of which 188 have been approved for certification as authorized house counsel. An additional 200 still need to be reviewed, a process that will take about three to four weeks.

Applicants are protected if they have submitted the application and the fee. Additional information about their background and nature of their legal work in the state can be provided up to a year after the application is filed.

So far, 140 corporate counsel have been certified.

Though there's no firm number available as to how many house counsel weren't licensed before the initiative was launched, Wood believes the number is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000. "We're going to see problems with applications that are a day or two late," said Wood.

That's because the rules require the application and fee be received by June 30, not just be mailed by that date.

Delegating Responsibility

Spreading the word about the provision and getting people to understand the process of registering has been challenging.

Many house counsel delegate the responsibility of filling out the application, which has created some problems when the paralegal doesn't understand certain elements of the application or what documents are required. Wood has had to spend large chunks of time walking paralegals through the process.

And in the end, she said, "we usually get to the point where we have to talk directly to the applicant because of confidentiality issues."

All of which could have been avoided had the house counsel contacted her in the first place. Still, Wood said applicants are apologetic and cooperative once they are on the phone. Despite the seemingly low numbers of applicants, "all of the people I've dealt with I feel they are taking this seriously," Wood noted.

Other questions have been raised as to who is eligible for this protection and not required to sit for the bar exam and travel the traditional paths to obtaining a law license in the state. Examples include a house counsel for an insurance company in New York who comes to Connecticut on a regular basis or a house counsel who works from home in Connecticut for a company that's headquartered out of state.

Both scenarios seem to run counter to the rule that applies to counsel "employed in the state of Connecticut by an organization or relocating" to the state for employment at the time of their application. But Wood said she has accepted those applications for now and will review the nature of the legal work in the future.

A rejected application would force house counsel to sit for the bar exam and obtain a license in order to toe the line with grievance officials.

No 'Good Standing'

Some house counsel haven't meet the "good standing" requirement in Connecticut because they've allowed their status to lapse in other states where they are admitted but rarely practice, either from a failure to pay bar dues or a failure to maintain their continuing legal education requirements.

Another wrinkle involves proposed changes to Sec. 2-15A with regard to degrees from foreign universities. Currently, Connecticut recognizes only law degrees from ABA-accredited institutions, but officials are reconsidering after receiving applications from lawyers educated at Oxford University in England and La Sarbonne in France.

But there's no such reprieve for those who simply file late.

"We feel it's incumbent upon us to report them" to Chief Disciplinary Counsel Mark A. Dubois, Wood said. "It will be his decision" as to whether he prosecutes those violating UPL standards.

Violators may not be hearing from him anytime soon. Dubois has a backlog of 100 UPL complaints and is swimming against the tide in trying to find time for those cases while tracking down thieving lawyers.

Therefore, the June 30 deadline is "a soft deadline as far as I'm concerned," Dubois said. "But I'm going to add it to my list of things to do."

And while state-level hiring freezes and budget cuts are leaving things in flux with resources, his office is bracing for the retirement of assistant prosecutor Frank P. Blando, who has been with Dubois since the office opened in 2004.

"All of this raises an interesting question," Dubois said. "If you're not legally authorized to practice here, should you be doing it just because the state doesn't have the resources to arrest you?"•