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Castro wants recruited gov’t lawyers OK’d to practice eight years sans NMI Bar exam
Castro
CNMI Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexandro C. Castro has sought the Legislature’ approval for a proposed rule that seeks to increase from four years to a maximum of eight years the time allowed for recruited government lawyers to practice law in the CNMI without requiring them to pass the NMI Bar examination.
Castro said that, in order to retain and recruit experienced attorneys, the Office of the Attorney General, in consultation with the CNMI Bar Association, requested that attorneys with limited admission be able to extend their admission without having to take the CNMI Bar examination.
The CNMI Supreme Court’s proposed Rule 73-2 of Title 9, Rules of Admission provides for one four-year extension, said Castro in his recent letter to Senate President Jude U. Hofschneider (R-Tinian) and House of Representatives Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez (Ind-Saipan).
If adopted, Castro said, the proposed Rule 73-2 will replace the previous rule and will increase the time that limited admission attorneys are able to practice in the CNMI from the current for-year requirement to a maximum of eight years.
He said the CNMI Attorney General and the Micronesian Legal Services Corp. had the opportunity to comment and propose recommendations to Rule 73-2 before the proposal was finalized by the CNMI Supreme Court.
Castro said the proposed Rule 73-2 becomes effective 60 days after the submission, unless disapproved by a majority of the members of either Senate or House.
He said in the interim, the Supreme Court has adopted the proposed rule per court order, pending the Legislature’s approval.
Limiting government lawyers to four years to practice law without taking and passing the NMI Bar exam has been cited by some attorneys as one of the main reasons why the Office of the Attorney General has a revolving door of lawyers and why it keeps recruiting lawyers from the U.S. mainland, who then leave the islands soon after.
