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Preston v. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences11/6/2003
permits the admission pro hac vice of nonresident attorneys licensed in states that grant comity to Arkansas attorneys, but neither the motion nor the affidavit mentions whether Texas courts would allow Arkansas attorneys to appear by comity in an instance similar to this one[,]
and (2) the motion and affidavit fail to state the attorney is a nonresident of Arkansas. Willett, 334 Ark. at 42, 970 S.W.2d at 805 (emphasis added). We further noted:
While there is little doubt that [the nonresident attorney] is qualified to represent [appellant], it is equally apparent that there is a lack of compliance with Rule XIV, and we have before us neither argument nor citation to authority suggesting that there is or should be an exception in this case.
Id. at 43, 970 S.W.2d at 806 (emphasis added).
In the instant case, the Prestons' attorneys could only be authorized to practice law in Arkansas pro hac vice if the circuit court, in its discretion, extended comity to them under Rule XIV. The Oklahoma attorneys revealed in their motions for admission pro hac vice that they were admitted to practice in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit in which they resided and in the highest appellate court of Oklahoma and that they were in good standing in Oklahoma courts. They further submitted written statements to the circuit court in which they agreed to submit themselves to all disciplinary procedures applicable to Arkansas lawyers. Yet, the motions for admission pro hac vice were filed too late for the attorneys to receive permission to practice in this state under Rule XIV. The clear intent of Rule XIV is that the written statement be submitted before the attorneys engage in the practice of law in Arkansas.It is undisputed that prior to filing the Prestons' complaint on November 19, 2001, the Oklahoma counsel had not filed a motion for admission pro hac vice; moreover, there was no local counsel involved in the matter, and the Prestons' counsel had failed to file any certificate or affidavit stating that they were in good standing in Oklahoma, that they agreed to be bound to Arkansas disciplinary rules, or that there is comity in Oklahoma to admit Arkansas attorneys to practice in that state. Even when Oklahoma counsel filed a motion for admission pro hac vice on July 25, 2002, which was eight months late, their written statement still failed to spell out Oklahoma's comity rule regarding Arkansas attorneys, as required by Rule XIV and as referenced in Willett v. State, supra.
The Prestons had two years to find Arkansas counsel to represent them or to have their Oklahoma attorneys file an admission to practice pro hac vice with this State before filing their complaint. Even after filing the complaint, Oklahoma counsel waited eight months to file their pro hac vice admission motion. The circuit court concluded that the Oklahoma attorneys failed to comply with our rule of comity, Rule XIV. We hold that the court's conclusion was not an abuse of discretion.
The next question for this court to resolve is what consequences result from a complaint filed by unauthorized, unlicensed counsel. The Prestons cite this court to Davenport v. Lee, supra, and attempt to distinguish it from the case at bar. In Davenport, this court was concerned with review of an Arkansas Court of Appeals decision in which a non-attorney, personal representative was not authorized to file a pro se complaint in a wrongful-death action. The question before us was whether this defect rendered the complaint a nullity. We held that it did and said:
Under Ark. R. Civ. P. 11(a), " party who is not represented by an
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