North Carolina Administrative Code

27 NCAC 01B .0122 DISABILITY (a) Transfer by Secretary where Member Judicially Declared Incompetent. Where a member of the North Carolina State Bar has been judicially declared incapacitated, incompetent, or mentally ill by a North Carolina court or by a court of any other jurisd…

27 NCAC 01B .0123 Enforcement of Powers In addition to the other powers contained herein, in proceedings before any subcommittee or panel of the Grievance Committee or the commission, if any person refuses to respond to a subpoena, refuses to take the oath or affirmation as a wit…

27 NCAC 01B .0124 NOTICE TO MEMBER OF ACTION AND DISMISSAL In every disciplinary case wherein the respondent has received a letter of notice and the grievance has been dismissed, the respondent will be notified of the dismissal by a letter by the chairperson of the Grievance Comm…

27 NCAC 01B .0125 NOTICE TO COMPLAINANT (a) Notice of Public Discipline - If the Grievance Committee finds probable cause and imposes public written discipline, the chairperson of the Grievance Committee will notify the complainant of the action of the committee. (b) Referral to …

27 NCAC 01B .0126 APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL TO PROTECT CLIENTS' INTERESTS WHEN ATTORNEY DISAPPEARS, DIES, OR IS TRANSFERRED TO DISABILITY INACTIVE STATUS (a) Appointment by Senior Resident Judge - Whenever a member of the North Carolina State Bar has been transferred to disability i…

27 NCAC 01B .0127 Imposition of Discipline; Findings of Incapacity or Disability; Notice to Courts (a) Imposition of Discipline - Upon the final determination of a disciplinary proceeding wherein discipline is imposed, one of the following actions will be taken: (1) Admonition - …

27 NCAC 01B .0128 OBLIGATIONS OF DISBARRED OR SUSPENDED ATTORNEYS (a) Client Notification - A disbarred or suspended member of the North Carolina State Bar will promptly notify by certified mail, return receipt requested, all clients being represented in pending matters of the di…

27 NCAC 01B .0129 Reinstatement (a) After Disbarment (1) Reinstatement Procedure and Costs - A person who has been disbarred may have his or her license restored upon a verified petition for reinstatement, a hearing before a hearing panel of the commission, and entry of an order …

27 NCAC 01B .0130 ADDRESS OF RECORD Except where otherwise specified, any provision herein for notice to a respondent, member, petitioner, or a defendant will be deemed satisfied by appropriate correspondence addressed to that attorney by mail to the last address maintained by th…

27 NCAC 01B .0131 DISQUALIFICATION DUE TO INTEREST No member of the council or hearing commission will participate in any disciplinary matter involving the member, any partner, or associate in the practice of law of the member, or in which the member has a personal interest. Hist…

27 NCAC 01B .0132 Trust Accounts; Audit (a) Investigative Subpoena for Reasonable Cause - For reasonable cause, the chairperson of the Grievance Committee is empowered to issue an investigative subpoena to a member compelling the production of any records required to be kept rela…

27 NCAC 01B .0133 Confidentiality (a) Allegations of Misconduct or Alleged Disability - Except as otherwise provided in this rule and G.S. 84-28(f), all information, documentation, and proceedings involving allegations of misconduct by or alleged disability of an attorney will re…

27 NCAC 01B .0134 Disciplinary Amnesty in Illicit Drug Use Cases (a) Information Concerning Illicit Drug Use - The North Carolina State Bar will not treat as a grievance information that a member has used or is using illicit drugs except as provided in Rules.0134(c), (d) and (e) …

27 NCAC 01B .0135 noncompliance suspension (a) Noncompliant and Noncompliance Defined. Failure to respond fully and timely to a letter of notice issued pursuant to N.C.A.C. 1B, .0112, failure to respond fully and timely to any request from the State Bar for additional information…

27 NCAC 01B .0136 EXPUNGEMENT OR SEALING OF DISCIPLINE (a) By the Chair of the Grievance Committee. (1) Expungement of Admonition by the Grievance Committee. A lawyer who accepted an admonition from the Grievance Committee may petition the chair of the committee to expunge the ad…

27 NCAC 01B .0137 VEXATIOUS COMPLAINANTS (a) Designation as a Vexatious Complainant. (1) A person who submits to the State Bar grievances asserting allegations that, even if proven, would not constitute violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct or asserting allegations that…

SECTION .0200 - RULES GOVERNING JUDICIAL DISTRICT GRIEVANCE COMMITTEES 27 NCAC 01B .0201 Organization of Judicial District Grievance Committees (a) Judicial Districts Eligible to Form District Grievance Committees (1) Membership Requirements for Establishing a District Grievance …

27 NCAC 01b .0202 JURISDICTION & AUTHORITY OF DISTRICT GRIEVANCE COMMITTEES (a) District Grievance Committees are Subject to the Rules of the North Carolina State Bar - The district grievance committee shall be subject to the rules and regulations adopted by the Council of the No…

27 NCAC 01B .0203 MEETINGS OF THE DISTRICT GRIEVANCE COMMITTEES (a) Notice of Meeting - The district grievance committee shall meet at the call of the chairperson upon reasonable notice, as often as is necessary to dispatch its business and not less than once every 60 days, provi…

27 NCAC 01B .0204 PROCEDURE UPON INSTITUTION OF A GRIEVANCE (a) Receipt of Grievance - A grievance may be filed by any person against a member of the North Carolina State Bar. Such grievance must be in writing and signed by the complaining person. A district grievance committee m…

27 NCAC 01B .0205 RECORD KEEPING The district grievance committee shall maintain records of all grievances referred to it by the State Bar and all grievances initially filed with the district grievance committee for at least one year. The district grievance committee shall provid…

27 NCAC 01B .0206 MISCELLANEOUS (a) Assistance and Questions - The office of counsel, including the staff attorneys and the grievance coordinator, are available to answer questions and provide assistance regarding any matters before the district grievance committee. (b) Missing A…

27 NCAC 01B .0207 CONFLICTS OF INTEREST (a) No district grievance committee shall investigate or consider a grievance which alleges misconduct by any current member of the committee. If a file is referred to the committee by the State Bar or is initiated locally which alleges mis…

27 NCAC 01B .0208 Letter to Complainant Where Local Grievance Alleges Fee Dispute Only John Smith Anywhere, N.C. Re: Your complaint against Jane Doe Dear Mr. Smith: The district grievance committee has received your complaint against the above-listed attorney. Based upon our init…

27 NCAC 01B .0209 Letter to Complainant Where Local Grievance Alleges Fee Dispute and Other Violations John Smith Anywhere, N.C. Re: Your complaint against Jane Doe Dear Mr. Smith: The district grievance committee has received your complaint against the above-listed attorney. Bas…

27 NCAC 01B .0210 LETTER TO COMPLAINANT/RESPONDENT WHERE DISTRICT COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS FINDING OF NO PROBABLE CAUSE John Smith Anywhere, N.C. Re: Your complaint against Jane Doe Our File No. Dear Mr. Smith: The district grievance committee has completed its investigation of your …

27 NCAC 01B .0211 LETTER TO RESPONDENT WHERE DISTRICT COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS FINDING OF PROBABLE CAUSE Ms. Jane Doe Anywhere, N.C. Re: Grievance of John Smith Our File No. Dear Ms. Doe: The district grievance committee has completed its investigation of Mr. Smith's grievance and ha…

27 NCAC 01B .0212 LETTER TO COMPLAINANT WHERE DISTRICT COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS FINDING OF PROBABLE CAUSE John Smith Anywhere, N.C. Re: Your complaint against Jane Doe Our File No. Dear Mr. Smith: The district grievance committee has completed its investigation of your grievance and …

27 NCAC 01B .0213 LETTER TO COMPLAINANT ACKNOWLEDGING GRIEVANCE John Smith Anywhere, N.C. Re: Your complaint against Jane Doe Our File No. [] Dear Mr. Smith: I am the chairperson of the [] district grievance committee. Your grievance against [respondent attorney] [was received in…

27 NCAC 01B .0214 LETTER TO INVESTIGATING ATTORNEY ASSIGNING GRIEVANCE James Roe [] District Grievance Committee Member Anywhere, N.C. Re: Grievance of John Smith against Jane Doe Our File No. [] Dear Mr. Roe: Enclosed you will find a copy of the grievance which I recently receiv…

27 NCAC 01B .0215 LETTER TO COMPLAINANT FROM INVESTIGATING ATTORNEY John Smith Anywhere, N.C. Re: Your complaint against Jane Doe Our File No. [] Dear Mr. Smith: I am the member of the [] district grievance committee assigned to investigate your grievance against [respondent atto…

27 NCAC 01B .0216 LETTER OF NOTICE TO RESPONDENT ATTORNEY Ms. Jane Doe Anywhere, N.C. Re: Grievance of John Smith Our File No. [] Dear Ms. Doe: Enclosed you will find a copy of a grievance which has been filed against you by [complainant] and which was received in my office on [d…

27 NCAC 01B .0217 LETTER TRANSMITTING COMPLETED FILE TO NORTH CAROLINA STATE BAR Director of Investigations N.C. State Bar P.O. Box 25908 Raleigh, N.C. 27611 Re: Grievance of John Smith File No. [] Dear Director: The [] district grievance committee has completed its investigation…

SUBCHAPTER 01C - RULES GOVERNING THE BOARD OF LAW EXAMINERS AND THE TRAINING OF LAW STUDENTS SECTION .0100 - BOARD OF LAW EXAMINERS 27 NCAC 01C .0101 Election (a) The Board of Law Examiners shall consist of 11 members. The members are appointed for three-year terms to serve until…

27 NCAC 01C .0102 EXAMINATION OF APPLICANTS FOR LICENSE All applicants for admission to the Bar shall first obtain a certificate or license from the Board of Law Examiners in accordance with the rules and regulations of that board. History Note: Authority G.S. 84-24; Readopted Ef…

27 NCAC 01C .0103 ADMISSION TO PRACTICE Upon receiving license to practice law from the Board of Law Examiners, the applicant shall be admitted to the practice thereof by taking the oath in the manner and form now provided by law. History Note: Authority G.S. 84-24; Readopted Eff…

27 NCAC 01C .0104 APPROVAL OF RULES AND REGULATIONS OF BOARD OF LAW EXAMINERS The council shall, as soon as possible, after the presentation to it of rules and regulations for admission to the Bar, approve or disapprove such rules and regulations. The rules and regulations approv…

27 NCAC 01C .0105 Approval Of Law Schools Every applicant for admission to the North Carolina State Bar must meet the requirements set out in at least one of the numbered paragraphs below: (1) The applicant holds an LL.B or J.D. degree from a law school that was approved by the A…

SECTION .0200 - Rules Governing the Practical Training of Law Students 27 NCAC 01C .0201 PURPOSE The rules in this subchapter are adopted for the following purposes: to support the development of experiential legal education programs at North Carolina's law schools in order that …

27 ncac 01C .0202 DEFINITIONS The following definitions shall apply to the terms used in this section: (a) Clinical legal education program - Experiential educational program that engages students in "real world" legal matters through supervised practice experience. Under the sup…

27 NCAC 01C .0203 ELIGIBILITY To engage in activities permitted by these rules, a law student must satisfy the following requirements: (a) be enrolled as a J.D. or LL.M. student in a law school approved by the Council of the North Carolina State Bar; (b) be certified in writing b…

27 NCAC 01C .0204 FORM AND DURATION OF CERTIFICATION Upon receipt of the written materials required by Rule .0203(b) and (e) and Rule .0205(b), the North Carolina State Bar shall certify that the law student may serve as a certified law student. The certification shall be subject…

27 NCAC 01C .0205 SUPERVISION (a) Supervision Requirements. A supervising attorney shall: (1) for a law school clinic, concurrently supervise an unlimited number of certified law students if the supervising attorney is a full-time, part-time, or adjunct member of a law school's f…

27 NCAC 01C .0206 Activities (a) A properly certified law student may engage in the activities provided in this rule under the supervision of an attorney qualified and acting in accordance with the provisions of Rule .0205 of this subchapter. (b) Without the presence of the super…

27 NCAC 01C .0207 Use of Student's Name (a) A certified law student's name may properly (1) be printed or typed on briefs, pleadings, and other similar documents on which the certified law student has worked with or under the direction of the supervising attorney, provided the ce…

27 NCAC 01C .0208 STUDENT PRACTICE PLACEMENTS (a) A law student participating in a student practice placement at an organization, entity, law firm, or government agency shall be certified if the law student will (i) provide legal advice or services in matters governed by North Ca…

27 NCAC 01C .0209 RELATIONSHIP OF LAW SCHOOL AND CLINICS; RESPONSIBILITY UPON DEPARTURE OF SUPERVISING ATTORNEY OR CLOSURE OF CLINIC (a) Relationship to Other Clinics. The clinics that are a part of a clinical legal education program at a law school may each operate as an indepen…

27 NCAC 01C .0210 PRO BONO ACTIVITIES (a) Pro Bono Activities for Law Students. Pro bono activities for law students may be facilitated by a law school acting under the auspices of a clinical legal education program or another program or department of the law school. As used in t…

subchapter 01D – Rules of the standing committees of the north carolina state bar section .0100 – PROCEDURES for ruling on questions of legal ethics 27 NCAC 01D .0101 DEFINITIONS (a) "Assistant executive director" shall mean the assistant executive director of the Bar. (b) "Attor…

27 NCAC 01D .0102 REQUESTS FOR LEGAL ETHICS OPINIONS AND ETHICS ADVISORIES (GENERAL PROVISIONS) (a) Any attorney or citizen may request the Bar to rule on actual or contemplated professional conduct of an attorney in the form and manner provided hereinafter. The grant or denial o…