Practice in the United States (in general)

Practice in the United States (in general)

 

 

1 | LOCAL REGULATION OF PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Parisian lawyers may practice in the United States, subject to following the prescriptions of the state in which they settle.

 

In general, Parisian lawyers can choose:

 

A) be admitted to the local bar which requires the following cumulative conditions:

 

(a) justify a JD (Juris Doctor) or a sufficient level of legal training (in the state of New York for example, the foreign lawyer can pass the bar of New York if he meets the following conditions : (i) 3 years of training in "common law"; or (ii) 2 years of training in "common law" or 3 years of training in "civil law" plus a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from from an American institution *);

 

* Note: In this case, it is necessary to be able to justify the study of certain fundamental subjects during the LL.M, making it possible to ensure that the lawyer from a "civil law" country candidate for the New York Bar, will be familiar with the common law culture, namely:

 

a minimum of 2 credits related to the study of the history of the goals, values, rules and responsibilities of the legal profession in the United States ("history, goals, instruction, value, rules and responsibilities of the United States legal profession and its members ”;

2 credits proving learning to write memos and familiarization with legal research, writing and analysis;

2 credits specific to American law, such as: constitutional law, civil procedure;

a minimum of 6 credits in subjects tested during the exam. (evidentiary law, trust law, company law, civil liability law ("wrong"), contract law, etc.)

(b) pass the local ethics examination,

 

(c) be admitted to the local bar;

 

(d) be certified in good practice to practice; and

 

(e) apply to the relevant authorities, pay the registration fee and take the oath.

 

B) obtain a so-called "foreign legal consultant" license to provide legal services and advise clients in the host state, but only on their original right; which requires the following cumulative conditions:

 

(a) justify his admission as a lawyer or legal advisor or equivalent in the country of origin and be in compliance with the regulations and disciplinary rules of the order or public authorities governing these professions;

 

(b) for at least 3 years out of the 5 years immediately preceding the license application, and to have effectively and significantly, throughout this period, exercised the law of the country in question in accordance with the rules of the said profession ;

 

(c) be certified in good conduct to practice according to the criteria of the host state;

 

(d) be over 26 years of age; and

 

(e) intend to practice as a legal consultant in the host state and maintain an office there for this purpose;

 

C) Obtain another license limited to activities of legal aid, corporate lawyer or "paralegals".

 

2. CONDITIONS OF PRACTICE FOR FOREIGN LAWYERS

A) Parisian lawyers admitted to the state bar can consult in their law of origin as well as in local law.

 

B) Parisian lawyers who are not admitted to the state bar can only practice in their original law.

 

3. CONTINUING EDUCATION AND OTHER OBLIGATIONS

A) Parisian lawyers admitted to the state bar must complete a certain number of hours of continuing education ("CLE") and renew their license to practice every 2 years.

 

Those who have, moreover, kept their registration with the Paris bar must in principle comply with the continuing education obligations of the Paris bar, in addition to the CLE obligations. However, it is possible to carry out only the CLE training which can be taken into account for the completion of French continuing education by virtue of the mutual recognition of continuing education hours with other states. *

 

B) Parisian lawyers practicing in the United States who are not admitted to the state bar (see 2. B) and 3. B) above) must comply with the continuing education obligations of the Paris bar.

 

However, it is possible to complete these training hours abroad due to the mutual recognition of continuing education hours with other states. *

 

* Note: These two hypotheses are possible subject to the agreement of the Bar Council, which checks a posteriori that the lawyer has fulfilled his obligation of continuing education. Before choosing the training to be followed, the lawyer must therefore ensure that its conduct complies with the procedures laid down by the French ordinal authorities.

 

4. FORMALITIES WITH REGARD TO THE ORDER OF PARIS AND THE CNBF

The social security agreement dated March 2