Title 73, Professions and Vocations

The bar shall be controlled and governed by a Board of Commissioners consisting of as many members as shall be established by the bylaws of the bar or any amendments thereto, adopted at an annual meeting of the bar.

At all meetings of the board of commissioners a majority of the entire membership shall constitute a quorum for action upon any questions that may come before the board except such questions as this article or the by-laws of the organization may require to be passed upon by a lar…

A secretary, who may be designated as executive director, shall be elected by the Board of Commissioners and shall hold office for one (1) year. The secretary shall keep and maintain rolls which shall contain the name and place of residence of every lawyer in the state. He may ad…

The secretary shall also perform the duties of treasurer. He shall make bond for the safe handling of all funds for which he may become responsible, the bond to be in such penalty, with such sureties, and conditioned as the Board of Commissioners may require. Annually, and not le…

The secretary shall maintain his office at the seat of government. But the meetings of the Board of Commissioners shall be at such places as the board may select from time to time or as may be designated in calls made as herein authorized. The meetings of the bar shall be held at…

The secretary shall receive a salary in such amount and payable in such manner as the Board of Commissioners may prescribe from time to time. No other officer shall be paid a salary. But the traveling expenses of members of the board attending meetings of the board and such expen…

Enrollment on the list of members of the bar and the payment of annual enrollment fees as required hereby shall be prerequisites to the continued practice by any lawyer already admitted and to the engaging in the practice by persons hereafter admitted. The date on which the provi…

(a) Members of the bar shall be divided into active and inactive membership classes which shall be defined as follows:(a) “Active member” means any person admitted to practice law in this state and who is engaged in the practice of law in this state. Except as otherwise provided …

Any lawyer changing his residence from one circuit to another shall promptly notify the secretary who shall make the changes on his rolls to show such person’s name on the roll of the proper district.

(1) Each member of the bar shall, unless exempt by virtue of Section 73-3-125 and Section 33-1-39, pay enrollment fees each year in an amount as established by the board of commissioners, but not to exceed the sum of Four Hundred Dollars ($400.00) for those members admitted to pr…

All lawyers over the age of seventy-five (75) years, and the judges of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and circuit, chancery and county judges, United States magistrates, judges of the bankruptcy courts, the judges of the federal courts, and federal administrative law judges …

Any member failing to pay any enrollment fees within sixty (60) days after the same become due shall be considered delinquent and shall be given written notice of his delinquency mailed to him by United States mail, addressed to his last known address. If the delinquent fails to …

The president shall preside at all meetings of the bar, and shall have such duties as the bar may by its bylaws prescribe. In his absence, or in case of his inability to perform his duties they shall devolve upon the first vice president; and in the absence or inability to act of…

The president shall be a member and the chairman of the board of commissioners. In case he is absent from any meeting of the board, the vice president and president-elect shall preside; and in case the vice president and president-elect is absent from any meeting of the board, so…

The vice president and president-elect and the second vice president shall be members of the board of commissioners.

Vacancies in any office, including the office of commissioner, shall be filled by the board of commissioners and any person so elected by the board of commissioners to fill a vacancy shall hold for the balance of the term of his immediate predecessor in office.

If any member of the board shall be absent from three successive meetings thereof, unless the reason for his absence shall be temporary illness, the board may declare his office vacant and proceed to fill it as provided in the last preceding section.

The membership of the bar shall establish by the adoption of bylaws and amendments thereto at any annual meeting of the bar the time, method and procedures for the election of officers and members of the board. The names of those persons nominated by any method other than by peti…

The Board of Commissioners, any officer or the Executive Director of the Mississippi Bar shall not be authorized to lease any office space for the use of the Mississippi Bar if such space is being leased for an annual amount in excess of the annual amount paid by the State Suprem…

The Mississippi Bar shall be governed by the Board of Commissioners which shall have the powers and duties in this article conferred and which shall be charged with the executive functions of the bar and with the duty to enforce the provisions of this article. But the Board of Co…

(1) The board shall, subject to the approval of the justices of the Supreme Court, formulate reasonable rules governing the conduct of all persons admitted to practice. (2) The Board of Commissioners shall render advisory opinions, upon the written request of any member of the ba…

(1) It shall be the duty of the Mississippi Bar, by and through its president, to recommend to the State Legislature such legislation relating to the courts, to matters of pleading, practice and procedure, and any other legislation which in its judgment will improve the courts an…

The board of commissioners shall have no authority to regulate the fees or charges of lawyers for the rendition of their professional services. Nor shall it in any way undertake to regulate such fees or charges.

This article shall be known as “The Law Student Limited Practice Act.”

It is in the public interest to encourage the establishment and operation of effective legal internship and clinical legal education programs by law schools in this state and the utilization of services of law students in such programs as a form of legal education.

(a) For purposes of this article, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings:(a) “Law student” means a law student regularly enrolled in a law school in this state who (i) if enrolled and assigned in a legal internship program, has completed two-thirds (⅔) of…

(a) A law student enrolled in a legal internship program or a clinical legal education course is authorized to engage in limited practice in the state and federal courts of this state with the following conditions and limitations:(a) The law student will petition the court and ta…

A law student who meets the qualifications set forth in this article may petition a circuit court, chancery court, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi or the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi and present th…

Upon finding that a law student meets the qualifications for limited practice under this article, a judge of the court may order the admission of the student to limited practice in the following form: Be it known that , a law student, has petitioned this court for admission to th…

Any attorney regularly admitted to practice law in the state of Mississippi or any attorney specially admitted to practice law by a court of this state or any individual admitted to practice as an attorney in any other jurisdiction who regularly engages in the practice of law wit…

(a) The jurisdiction of the court shall be administered in the manner hereinafter set out, and the following entities are hereby established and designated as agencies of the court for such purposes:(a) The Board of Commissioners of the Mississippi Bar, including the Executive Di…

(a) The composition of the aforesaid disciplinary agencies shall be as follows:(a) Board of Commissioners. The Board of Commissioners of the Mississippi Bar is provided for in Section 73-3-107, Mississippi Code of 1972. The board shall have the authority to employ and compensate …

Each of the disciplinary agencies is hereby given such jurisdiction and lawful powers as are necessary to conduct a proper and speedy disposition of any complaint. The power to summons and examine witnesses under oath and to compel their attendance to take or cause to be taken th…

Complaints, irrespective of source, touching upon the professional conduct or conduct evincing unfitness for the practice of law made against attorneys who are members of the bar of this state or who may be temporarily practicing in this state under any rule of comity or courtesy…

The chancery and circuit courts shall have the duty to file a complaint under the terms and provisions as outlined in Section 73-3-309 against any attorney who is a resident of the court’s district and who demonstrates conduct evincing unfitness for the practice of law.

(a) When any complaint or charge touching upon the professional conduct or conduct evincing unfitness for the practice of law against any attorney subject to discipline hereunder is received by the committee on complaints, the committee shall, within ten (10) days thereof, take t…

The complaint counsel shall immediately investigate the complaint; and upon completion of his investigation, excluding the investigatory hearing, he shall inform the accused attorney that a complaint has been filed against him and that he is under investigation, advise the accuse…

(a) The following rules for investigatory hearings by complaint counsel are for the guidance of complaint counsel and shall be strictly followed:(a) The complainant is not a party to the proceeding and has no right to be present at any stage thereof.(b) The accused attorney has n…

Complaint counsel will cause the testimony of any witnesses at an investigatory hearing to be taken and transcribed and shall certify the same to the committee on complaints, along with his written findings, within thirty (30) days from and after the date on which the complaint w…

(a) Within thirty (30) days of its receipt of complaint counsel’s report, the committee on complaints shall take the following action:(a) If upon review of the record, complaint counsel’s report and any written response by the accused attorney, the committee determines that there…

(1) All formal complaints shall be filed in the court and shall be prosecuted in the name of the Mississippi Bar. The formal complaint and other pleadings shall comply with the following requirements:(a) The formal complaint shall be filed with the clerk of the court within thirt…

Within five (5) days after the formal complaint is filed with the clerk of the court by complaint counsel, the chief justice shall designate a complaint tribunal to conduct a hearing on the formal complaint and to determine the matter; provided, however, the complaint tribunal so…

Within forty-five (45) days after the designation by the chief justice of the complaint tribunal to hear and determine the formal complaint, the complaint tribunal shall conduct a hearing of the matter at such place and within such hours as determined by the tribunal; provided, h…

(1) At the conclusion of the hearing the complaint tribunal, upon the majority vote of the members of such tribunal, shall render a written opinion incorporating a finding of fact and a judgment thereon. The judgment of the complaint tribunal may provide the following:(a) Exonera…

(1) The entire record of the proceeding of the complaint tribunal shall be filed with the clerk of the court within thirty (30) days after the conclusion of the hearing or within such additional time as the clerk, on motion therefor, may allow. (2) If no appeal from the judgment …

Upon a final judgment of suspension or disbarment by a complaint tribunal, the convicted attorney shall not be privileged to practice law within this state unless and until he is restored the privilege of practice as hereinafter provided. Appeal from a judgment by the complaint t…