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In re Williams12/5/2002
. Today the majority holds "that a foreign attorney will be deemed to have made an appearance in a Mississippi lawsuit if the foreign attorney signs the pleadings or allows his or her name to be listed on the pleadings." (emphasis added). This holding and the trial court's according ruling are the first of any court to this effect. Thus, Miller's actions prior to the ruling could not possibly constitute a violation, much less one sufficient to deny the pro hac vice motion.
. This, however, is not the only reason that this holding is so peculiar and unjust. Indeed, its ramifications will, without any justification from this Court whatsoever, unravel years of well-settled and common practice, as well as the policies that underscore the rules of admission pro hac vice.
. The goal of M.R.A.P. 46 is the protection of the Mississippi public from undereducated and unlearned individuals practicing law. This Court has accordingly stated that "the prohibition against others than members of the bar of the State of Mississippi from engaging in the practice of law is not for the protection of the lawyers against lay competition, but is for the protection of the public." Darby v. Miss. State Bd. of Bar Admissions 185 So.2d 684,687 (Miss. 1966) (Citing Beach Abstract & Guar. Co. v. Bar Ass'n of Ark., 326 S.W.2d 900 (Ark. 1959); State Bar of Ariz. v. Ariz. Land Title & Trust Co., 366 P.2d 1 (Ariz. 1961); Grievance Comm. of Bar of New Haven County v. Payne, 22 A.2d 623 (Conn. 1941); Union City & Obion County Bar Ass'n v. Waddell, 205 S.W.2d 573 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1947); Hexter Title & Abstract Co. v. Grievance Comm., State Bar of Tex., 179 S.W.2d 946 (Tex. 1944)). "The state has legitimate interests to be weighed in considering pro hac vice admissions in order to maintain a high level of professional ethics, to assure a high quality of representation in the courts." McKenzie v. Burris, 500 S.W.2d 357, 364 (Ark. 1973) The majority's opinion is inconsistent with this goal.
. What is consistent with this goal, however, is the practice of Mississippi lawyers who, like Williamson, seek the assistance of expert, or highly qualified, attorneys who are not licensed in this state and therefore, enter into a limited joint venture. Such attorneys are often needed to effectuate full and comprehensive legal advice and services for our Mississippi residents. Often, foreign expert attorneys teach our local attorneys how to most effectively and zealously represent Mississippi clients, which is the reason why Rule 46 exists in the first place. Further, it is the client who decides who can provide the very best advocacy possible. The client has the ultimate right to choose their selected counsel.
. Even the Mississippi Rules of Professional Conduct encourage the association of specialized attorneys in order to achieve competency. The Comment to Mississippi Rule of Professional Conduct 1.1 advises that an attorney may become competent to handle a matter by the association or consultation of "a lawyer of established competence in the field in question." M.R.P.C. 1.1 cmt. For some Mississippi lawyers, it may be necessary to seek the assistance and counsel of a foreign attorney in a specialized field. The majority's opinion effectively makes any such consultation the unauthorized practice of law, which could place both the local and foreign attorney on the chopping block of contempt.
. Most surprisingly in this matter, however, is the majority's rather enormous and untutored leap in announcing that an appended name on a pleading constitutes an "appearance" for the purpose of determining whether one is "practicing law" in Mississippi. This does and will include the name o
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