Take action now to improve New Mexico’s economy by adopting lawyer reciprocity!

The Rio Grande Foundation, along with a large and growing group of supporters across the state, has moved the issue of lawyer reciprocity onto the agenda of New Mexico’s Supreme court (see the petition, an explanation of the issue from an attorney, and our original discussion of the issue which was included in our regulatory report in early January). Now, we are asking for the general public to weigh in to support this regulatory reform which would make New Mexico more competitive with other states. Please note the deadline for public comment listed at the bottom of this note.

The Board of Bar Examiners is considering whether to recommend proposed amendments to the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar for the Supreme Court’s consideration.  The proposed amendments would implement a procedure for reciprocal admission on motion, and the Court is seeking input from all segments of the bar before considering the proposal further.  Because the Board submitted a substantial amount of background material that is helpful to a full consideration of its proposal, the submission from the Board will not be published in the Bar Bulletin due to space limitations but instead can be viewed in its entirety on the Supreme Court’s web site.

Contemporaneously with the submission of the proposal from the Board of Bar Examiners, the Court also received a request from several state bar members to consider the adoption of another proposal for reciprocal admission.  Ordinarily, the Court would refer such a request to the Board of Bar Examiners for its review and recommendation.  But since the Board’s proposal is now open for public comment, the Court has decided to treat the alternative proposal as a comment on the Board’s proposal, which is also posted on the Court’s website for public review and comment.

If you would like to comment on the proposed amendments from the Board of Bar Examiners, or the alternative proposal mentioned above, before either is submitted to the Court for further consideration, you may do so by either submitting a comment electronically through the Supreme Court’s web site at:

http://nmsupremecourt.nmcourts.gov/rules/index.php

or by sending your written comments by mail or fax to:

Joey D. Moya, Clerk
New Mexico Supreme Court
P.O. Box 848
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-0848
505-827-4837 (fax)

Your comments must be received by the Clerk on or before July 26, 2013, to be considered by the Court.  Please note that any submitted comments may be posted on the Supreme Court’s web site for public viewing.