Utah Sup. Ct. R. Prof. Prac. 14-701

As amended through October 28, 2024

Rule 14-701 - Definitions

As used in this article:

(a) "ABA" means the American Bar Association;

(b) "Active Practice" means work performed by an attorney holding an "active" status law license and having professional experience and responsibilities involving the Fulltime Practice of Law as defined in paragraphs (u) and (jj). The Active Practice of law includes any of the following activities provided that such employment is available only to licensed attorneys:

(1) sole practitioner, or partner, shareholder, associate, or of counsel in a law firm;

(2) an organization's employee whose principal responsibility is to provide legal advice or service;

(3) government employee whose principal duties are to provide legal advice or service;

(4) service in the United States armed forces as a lawyer or judge;

(5) judge of a court of general or appellate jurisdiction provided that such employment requires admission to the bar for the appointment thereto and for the performance of the duties thereof; or

(6) law clerk to a judge of a court of general or appellate jurisdiction; and

(7) the Active Practice of law does not include work that, as undertaken, constitutes the unauthorized practice of law in the jurisdiction in which it was performed or in the jurisdiction in which the clients receiving the unauthorized services were located, nor does it include work completed in advance of any bar admission.

(c) "Admissions Committee" means those Utah State Bar members or others appointed by the Board or president of the Bar who are charged with recommending standards and procedures for admission to the Bar and with implementation of this article. The Admissions Committee is responsible for supervising the work of the Bar Examiner Committee, the Test Accommodations Committee, and the Character and Fitness Committee, handling requests for review as provided herein and performing other work relating to Applicant admissions.

(d) "Applicant" means each person requesting admission to the Bar. For purposes of this article, an Applicant is classified as a Student Applicant, a Foreign Law School Applicant, an Attorney Applicant, a Motion Applicant, a Disbarred Attorney Applicant, a Foreign Legal Consultant Applicant, a House Counsel Applicant, a Formerly-Admitted Applicant, a Military Lawyer Applicant, or a Military Spouse Attorney Applicant.

(e) "Approved Law School" means a law school which is fully or provisionally approved by the ABA pursuant to its Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools. To qualify as approved, the law school must have been fully or provisionally approved at the time of the Applicant's graduation, or at the time of the Applicant's enrollment, provided the Applicant graduated within a typical and reasonable time.

(f) "Attorney Applicant" means any person who satisfies the requirements of Rule 14704.

(g) "Bar" means the Utah State Bar, including its employees, committees and the Board.

(h) "Bar Examination" means the Bar Examination as defined in Rules 14-710 and 14711.

(i) "Bar Examiner Committee" means those Bar members or others appointed by the Board or president of the Bar who are charged with grading the Bar Examination.

(j) "Board" means the Board of Bar Commissioners.

(k) "Character and Fitness Committee" means those Bar members or others appointed by the Board or president of the Bar who are charged with assessing the character and fitness of Applicants and making determinations thereon.

(l) "Complete Application" means an application that includes all fees and necessary application forms, along with any required supporting documentation, character references, a criminal background check, a photo, an official certificate of law school graduation and if applicable, a test accommodation request with supporting medical documentation, a certificate of admission and/or good standing, and a certificate of discipline.

(m) "Confidential Information" is defined in Rule 14-720(a).

(n) "Deputy General Counsel for Admissions" or "Deputy General Counsel" are terms used interchangeably to mean the Bar's attorney in charge of admissions or her or his designee.

(o) "Disbarred Attorney Applicant" means a person who has previously been licensed to practice law in Utah and who is no longer licensed to practice law because of disbarment or resignation with discipline pending or their equivalent and who satisfies the requirements of Rule 14-708(g) and 14-717.

(p) "Executive Director" means the executive director of the Utah State Bar or her or his designee.

(q) "First Professional Degree" means a degree that prepares the holder for admission to the practice of law (e.g. juris doctorate) by emphasizing competency skills along with theory and analysis. An advanced, focused, or honorary degree in law is not recognized as a First Professional Degree (e.g. master of laws or doctor of laws).

(r) "Foreign Law School" means any school located outside of the United States and its protectorates, that is accredited by that jurisdiction's legal accreditation body, if one exists, where principles of English Common Law form the predominant basis for that country's system of jurisprudence, and whose graduates are otherwise permitted by that jurisdiction's highest court to practice law.

(s) "Foreign Legal Consultant Applicant" means any Applicant who satisfies the requirements of Rule 14-718.

(t) "Formerly-Admitted Applicant" means a person who has previously been licensed to practice law in Utah who is no longer licensed to practice law because of resignation without discipline pending or failure to pay licensing fees for three or more years under Rule 14-107(b)(4), and who satisfies the requirements of Rule 14-717.

(u) "Full-time Practice" means the Active and lawful Practice of Law for no fewer than 80 hours per month. Time spent on administrative or managerial duties, continuing legal education, or client development and marketing does not qualify as part of the required 80 hours of legal work.

(v) "General Counsel" means the General Counsel of the Utah State Bar or her or his designee.

(w) "House Counsel Applicant" means any Applicant who satisfies the requirements of Rule 14-719.

(x) "House Counsel" means a person granted a license under Rule 14-719.

(y) "Inactive" means an attorney's law license is held in "inactive status" or an equivalent term.

(z) "MBE" means the Multistate Bar Examination prepared by the NCBE.

(aa) "MEE" means the Multistate Essay Examination prepared by the NCBE.

(bb) "Military Lawyer Applicant" means any Applicant who satisfies the requirements of Rule 14-804.

(cc) "Military Spouse Attorney Applicant" means any Applicant who satisfies the requirements of Rule 14-805.

(dd) "Motion Applicant" means any person who satisfies the requirements of Rule 14705.

(ee) "MPRE" means the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination prepared by the NCBE.

(ff) "MPT" means the Multistate Performance Test prepared by the NCBE.

(gg) "NCBE" means the National Conference of Bar Examiners, an organization that develops, maintains, and applies reasonable and uniform standards of bar examination education and testing.

(hh) "OPC" means the Office of Professional Conduct.

(ii) "Person" includes the plural as well as the singular and legal entities as well as natural persons.

(jj) "Practice of Law" means employment available only to licensed attorneys where the primary duty of the position is to represent the interests of another person by informing, counseling, advising, assisting, advocating for or drafting documents for that person through application of the law and associated legal principles to that person's facts and circumstances. The Practice of Law constitutes more than merely working with legally-related matters.

(kk) "Privileged Information" in this article includes: information subject to the attorneyclient privilege, attorney work product, test materials and applications of examinees; correspondence and written decisions of the Board, Admissions Committee, Bar Examiner Committee, Character and Fitness Committee, and Test Accommodations Committee; and the identity of individuals participating in the drafting, reviewing, grading and scoring of the Bar Examination.

(ll) "Reapplication for Admission" means that for two years after the filing of an original application, an Applicant may reapply by completing a Reapplication for Admission form updating any information that has changed since the prior application was filed and submitting a new criminal background check.

(mm) "Student Applicant" means any person who satisfies the requirements of Rule 14-703(a) who has never been admitted as an attorney in any jurisdiction.

(nn) "Supreme Court" means the Utah Supreme Court.

(oo) "Test Accommodations Committee" means those Bar members or others appointed by the Board or president of the Bar who are charged with the review of requests from Applicants seeking to take the Bar Examination with test accommodations and who make determinations thereon.

(pp) "Unapproved Law School" means a law school that is not fully or provisionally approved by the ABA. For an Unapproved Law School's graduates to be eligible for admission, the law school must be accredited in the jurisdiction where it exists, provide legal education that is the substantial equivalent of the legal education provided by an Approved Law School, and not be based on correspondence or internet study.

(qq) "UBE" means the Uniform Bar Examination as prepared by the NCBE.

(rr) "UBE Transfer Applicant" means any person who satisfies the requirements of Rule 14-712.

(ss) "Updated Application" means that an Applicant is required to amend and update their application on an ongoing basis and correct any information that has changed since the application was filed.

(tt) "Written Component" means that portion of the Bar Examination that consists of MEE and MPT questions.

Utah. Sup. Ct. R. Prof. Prac. 14-701

Amended effective 6/13/2012; 5/1/2016; amended effective 5/1/2018; amended effective 5/1/2019; amended September 2, 2020 effective 9/1/2020; amended July 13, 2022, effective 8/1/2022; amended December 9, 2022, effective 12/9/2022.