Revision: Dec. 14, 2011, midnight
HB 1474 – AS INTRODUCED
2012 SESSION
10/03
HOUSE BILL 1474
AN ACT relative to eliminating the requirement that attorneys be members of the state bar association.
SPONSORS: Rep. Mirski, Graf 10; Rep. Ingbretson, Graf 5; Rep. Sorg, Graf 3; Rep. Balboni, Hills 21; Rep. Warden, Hills 7; Rep. Comerford, Rock 9; Sen. De Blois, Dist 18
This bill prohibits requiring membership in any bar association or other professional organization as a condition for practicing law or for appointment to certain positions.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
12-2421
10/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve
AN ACT relative to eliminating the requirement that attorneys be members of the state bar association.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Prohibition on Compelled Bar Association Membership. Amend RSA 311:2 to read as follows:
311:2 Admission to Practice. Any citizen of the age of 18 years, of good moral character and suitable qualifications, on application to the supreme court shall be admitted to practice as an attorney and upon admission shall be a member of the bar. No attorney shall be required to join or maintain membership in any bar association or any other professional organization as a condition for practicing law.
2 Reference to Bar Association Removed; Support of Dependent Children. Amend RSA 161-B:2, X to read as follows:
X. “Licensing board” means any department, bureau, board, commission, [bar association,] state agency, or municipality, or other licensor that has authority to issue licenses authorizing a person to engage in a business, occupation, profession, or industry, to operate a motor vehicle, or to engage in hunting, fishing, or trapping.
3 Judicial Council Membership. Amend RSA 494:1, VIII and IX to read as follows:
VIII. Eight other members appointed by the governor and council, 3 of whom shall be [members of the New Hampshire Bar Association] of wide experience who have been admitted to the practice of law in the state for more than 5 years, and 5 of whom shall be lay persons; and
IX. Five other members appointed by the chief justice of the supreme court, 3 of whom shall be [members of the New Hampshire Bar Association] of wide experience who have been admitted to the practice of law in the state for more than 5 years, and 2 of whom shall be lay persons.
4 Judicial Council Duties. Amend RSA 494:3, IV to read as follows:
IV. To recommend and provide general information to the general court, to the supreme court, to the superior court, to the probate court, and to the district and municipal courts, to any public official, department, or agency or to the members of the state bar [association], either upon request or upon the council’s own motion, such changes in the law or in the rules, organization, operation, or methods of conducting the business of the courts, or with respect to any other matter pertaining to the administration of justice, as it may deem desirable.
5 Board of Claims; Membership. Amend RSA 541-B:3, I and II to read as follows:
I. The governor shall appoint 2 competent persons to serve as board members; preferably each shall be [a member of the New Hampshire Bar Association] an attorney in the practice of law in this state.
II. The chief justice of the New Hampshire supreme court shall appoint the chairman of the board. The chairman shall be a judicial referee, if one is available, but if not, then the chairman shall be [a member of the New Hampshire Bar Association] an attorney in the practice of law in this state.
6 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2013.