Section 1. Persons Included in Membership
All members of the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals shall be members of the District of Columbia Bar subject to due compliance with the conditions and requirements of such membership. Residence in the District of Columbia shall not be a condition of eligibility to membership.
Section 2. Periodic Registration of Attorneys
(1) Every attorney who engages in the practice of law within the District of Columbia as defined in Rule 49(b) of the general Rules of the Court [exclusive of those described in Rule 49(c)] shall on or before July 1 of every year file with the Secretary of the Bar a registration statement setting forth his or her current residence and office addresses, email address, telephone number, other state jurisdictions in which he or she is admitted to practice including date of admission, and such other information as the Court may from time to time direct. In addition to such registration statement, every attorney shall file a supplemental statement with the Secretary of any change in the information previously submitted within thirty days of such change. An attorney who becomes newly subject to these rules shall file such a registration statement within three months, or by the following July 1, whichever is later.
(2) Any attorney who has filed a registration statement or supplement thereto in accordance with paragraph (1) above shall, upon request, be provided by the Secretary of the Bar with an acknowledgement of the receipt thereof.
(3) Any attorney who fails to file any registration statement or supplement thereto in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (1) above shall, after due notice from the Secretary of the Bar, be summarily suspended from membership by the Board of Governors and thereby shall be barred from practicing law in the District of Columbia until he or she be reinstated as provided under § 7 [§ 8] of this Rule.
(4) An attorney who has retired or is not engaged in practice as defined in Rule 46II of the General Rules of the Court shall advise the Secretary of the Bar in writing or through such electronic means as the District of Columbia Bar may provide on its web site, that he or she desires to assume inactive status and to discontinue the practice of the law. Upon the filing of such notice, that attorney shall no longer be eligible to practice law but shall continue to file registration statements for 5 years thereafter in order that he or she may be located in the event any complaint is made about his or her conduct while he or she was engaged in practice.
(5) Upon the filing of a notice to assume inactive status, an attorney shall be removed from the roll of those classified as active unless and until he or she requests and is granted reinstatement to the active roll.
Section 3. Mandatory Course for New Admittees
(a) The District of Columbia Bar shall establish a course on the District of Columbia Rules of Professional Conduct and on District of Columbia practice to be presented at least six times per year.
(b) Within twelve months after admission to the District of Columbia Bar, all members admitted after July 1, 1994, shall complete the course described in paragraph (1) and shall certify compliance with this requirement in accordance with procedures established by the Bar.
(c) Any attorney admitted after July 1, 1994, who fails to complete the course described in paragraph (1) within twelve months after admission to the District of Columbia Bar shall receive written notice of noncompliance from the District of Columbia Bar. Any attorney who fails to comply within sixty days after issuance of such notice of noncompliance shall be suspended from membership in the District of Columbia Bar.
(d) Any member otherwise in good standing who is suspended for failure to complete the course described in paragraph (1) shall be reinstated as a member of the District of Columbia Bar upon completion of the mandatory course and fulfillment of such other administrative requirements as the Board of Governors may impose.
(e) The District of Columbia Bar shall report annually to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on the course described in paragraph (1). The report shall address, among other things, the curriculum, the faculty, the number of presentations, attendance, and the number of attorneys suspended under paragraph (3) above.
Section 4. Classes of Membership
The members of the District of Columbia Bar shall be divided into 3 classes known respectively as "active" members, "judicial" members, and "inactive" members. The class of inactive members shall be limited to those persons who are eligible for active membership but are not engaged in the practice of law in the District of Columbia and have filed with the Secretary of the Bar written notice requesting enrollment in the class of inactive members. Judges of courts of record, full-time court commissioners, U.S. bankruptcy judges, U.S. magistrate judges, other persons who perform a judicial function on an exclusive basis, in an official capacity created by federal or state statute or by administrative agency rule, and retired judges who are eligible for temporary judicial assignment, and are not engaged in the practice of law, shall be classified as judicial members, except that if a member's terms and conditions of employment require that he or she be eligible to practice law, then the member may choose to be an active member. Any inactive member in good standing and any judicial member who is no longer a judge may change his or her classification to that of an active member by filing with the Secretary of the Bar a written request for transfer to the class of active members and by paying the dues required of active members. A judicial member who is no longer a judge shall be classified as an active member if he or she engages in the practice of law in the District of Columbia. No judicial or inactive member shall be entitled to practice law in the District of Columbia or to hold office or vote in any election or other business conducted by the District of Columbia Bar.
Section 5. Membership Dues
Every member shall pay dues in an amount not to exceed a ceiling set by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The Board of Governors shall determine the amount of dues to be paid annually by members in the various classes of membership. All dues shall be paid to the Treasurer of the Bar and shall constitute a fund for the payment of the expenses of the Bar. The Board of Governors may make recommendations to the Court concerning the amount of the ceiling on membership dues. If such a recommendation is made, it shall be published by the Court, and the members of the Bar shall have 60 days, or such other period as the court may direct, in which to comment. Recommendations by the Board of Governors for an increase in the dues ceiling shall not be subject to referendum under Rule VII.
Section 6. Penalty for Nonpayment of Dues; Late Charges
If the annual dues of any member remain unpaid at the expiration of 90 days from the time when such dues are due and payable, the membership of such member may be suspended by the Board of Governors in the manner provided in the By-laws. The Board of Governors, by appropriate provision in the By-Laws, may impose a reasonable late charge to offset the costs of notifying members that their dues have not been timely paid. If the late charge is not timely paid, the membership of such member may be suspended by the Board of Governors in the manner provided in the By-laws. No person whose membership is so suspended for nonpayment of dues shall be entitled to practice law in the District of Columbia during the period of such suspension.
Section 7. Voluntary Resignation of Membership
Whenever a member of the District of Columbia Bar who is in good standing and not under investigation provided in Rule XI § 8, files with the Secretary of the Bar and with Disciplinary Counsel in writing or through such electronic means as the District of Columbia Bar may provide on its web site, notice of such member's election to discontinue the practice of law in the District of Columbia, and to terminate his or her membership in the Bar, such person shall, upon written notice of the acceptance of such resignation from the Secretary after consultation with Disciplinary Counsel, cease to be a member of the District of Columbia Bar, and his or her name shall be removed from the membership register.
Section 8. Reinstatement
Reinstatement of an attorney following a suspension from membership by the Board of Governors under § 2(3) or § 5 of this Rule, or following the assumption of inactive status under § 2(4), or a resignation under § 6 [§7], shall be governed by rules promulgated by the Board of Governors after consultation with the Board on Professional Responsibility of this Court. In an appropriate case, the Board of Governors may reinstate an attorney to membership nunc pro tunc.
Section 9. Notice to the Clerk
The Secretary of the Bar shall forward forthwith, to the Clerk of this Court, the names of those attorneys who have filed registration statements and those whose membership status has been changed in any way pursuant to the provisions of this Rule.
