In an interesting development, the Virgin Islands Supreme Court recently denied a petition of the jurisdiction's Bar Association to have the court amend its rules on multijurisdictional and unauthorized practice.
The court, in fact, appeared annoyed that the Bar Association dared ask it to consider the proposal, saying that "we note that the Bar Association cites to no authority to support the filing of its petition to amend the Rules of this Court" and that "we emphasize that we are under no obligation whatsoever to consider, or even docket, the Bar Association’s petition."
The Bar Association's request was apparently an attempt to make it easier for lawyers from the jurisdiction and lawyers from the US mainland to interact. But the Supreme Court rejected the proposal and referred the matter to the Advisory Committee on Rules, with the court's "sincere hope that our reasons for [denying the request to amend the rules] will . . . further clarify what acts do and do not, constitute the unauthorized practice of law in the Virgin Islands.
Presumably, the Advisory Committee on Rules will now take on the matter and prepare a new proposal. Stay tuned.
The Legal Profession Blog has the full story here.
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