N.J.'S TOP COURT WON'T ROLL BACK CONDUCT RULE'S ADR IMPACT

摘要

The New Jersey Supreme Court has declined to roll back its local version of Rule of Professional Conduct Rule 5.5, on multi-jurisdictional practice, despite a recommendation by its own professional responsibility rules committee to amend it to exclude alternative dispute resolution matters. The result is that non-New Jersey practitioners are still required to register with the state when participating in ADR matters, or enlist local counsel, in the wake of a 2007 opinion by another Court committee. That opinion appears to require unadmitted corporate attorney-representatives to register, pro hac vice-style, when involved in New Jersey arbitrations, mediations, and even negotiations. At a minimum, the requirement is an inconvenience for general counsel and corporate officials with law licenses elsewhere. For the ADR hardcore, it runs counter to strongly held beliefs that parties determine their future at the bargaining table, and, accordingly, should be able to determine who their representative is.