As one honored to be a member of the New Jersey bar and practice in the community in which I live, I am concerned that recent approval of the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) and admission to the practice of law by motion will have a negative impact on the public and the economic and societal benefits the small business legal community provides. By focusing on portability of bar admissions, these changes foster a borderless practice and encourage a remote practice model. That model promotes extraction of resources from New Jersey and dilution of knowledge of local law. Such a model also is antagonistic to local regulation. While such a model may benefit large national or international interests, the public’s exposure to the legal system is primarily on a state and local level. Considered but rejected was the ABA’s proposal for parties’ agreement on which jurisdiction’s ethics laws apply. Clearly, this suggests a drive to reduce state control over the practice of law. Current trends suggest that such a drive for that change will continue.
The impact of these changes must also be viewed in light of the drive to limit court access through arbitration clauses in consumer and other contracts. Many articles have been written lately about this trend to force consumers away from courts. These clauses are often not bargained for and disenfranchise states and state courts by deferring to federal law. Thus, the need for local counsel can be entirely eliminated. In addition to consumer contracts, companies selling legal forms to the public can limit court access through arbitration clauses that the uninformed consumers can and likely will unwittingly bind themselves to. Companies are now advertising legal referrals and consultation under fee-splitting arrangements. These consultations may be conducted remotely by lawyers admitted in New Jersey but with no ties here under these new rules.
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