Indiana Supreme Court Warns It Will Get Tough on Pro Hac Vice Paperwork
The Indiana Supreme Court has issued a private reprimand to a lawyer and a warning to others in an ethics case concerning a neglected application for pro hac vice status.
The court found that an Indiana lawyer, who wasn’t identified, partnered with a Kentucky lawyer in a personal injury case, but failed to ensure that the Kentucky lawyer applied for temporary bar admission. The court said the Indiana lawyer had engaged in misconduct by helping his co-counsel engage in the unauthorized practice of law, the Associated Press reports.
“The failure of out-of-state attorneys and their Indiana co-counsel to comply with the rule governing temporary admission is neither trivial nor rare,” the court said in its Sept 3. opinion.
“Indiana attorneys who neglect that duty in future cases may be subject to more stringent discipline, and out-of-state attorneys who fail to comply with this rule may be sanctioned for the unauthorized practice of law in this state,” the court said.
