Re: Creation of Ad Hoc Committee on Bar Admissions

The Supreme Court has created an Ad Hoc Committee on Bar Admissions to address a number of significant issues. Appellate Division Judge John E. Wallace, Jr., has agreed to serve as Chair. John J. Francis, Jr., Esquire, a former Chair of the Court’s Committee on Character, is the Vice-Chair. Committee members represent a cross-section of the bench and bar and will bring a broad range of experience to the work of the Committee. A roster of Committee members accompanies this Notice. Among the issues the Committee will consider are the following:
 

1. Drafting a proposal to establish an appropriate mechanism to permit qualified foreign-educated attorneys to take the New Jersey bar examination. This will entail assessing programs in other states and the use of supplemental educational programs from United States’ law schools. In addition, the Committee will have to assess the impact of such a program on non-ABA approved law schools in the United States, the graduates of which are not currently allowed to sit for the bar examination;
    
2. Considering whether the Court should adopt Rules authorizing the admission of out-of-state attorneys by motion and, if so, articulating the standards that should govern those Rules;
3. Reviewing the status and oversight of in-house counsel (and transactional attorneys generally) who are not admitted to the bar of New Jersey and making recommendations in respect of those attorneys;
    
4. Reviewing and assessing the issues and proposals being made in connection with Multi-Jurisdictional Practice initiatives (including that of the American Bar Association and the New Jersey State Bar Association);
5. Recommending how the current continuing legal education requirements might be restructured if the Court were to adopt substantive amendments generated by the previous issues; and
    

6. Considering any other issues that the Committee deems relevant to its charge. The issues before the Committee are challenging. They have, in some instances, generated a great deal of interest and effort nationally and in other jurisdictions. To assist it in responding to the Court’s charge, the Committee will be reaching out to resources it deems necessary and appropriate. For some of the issues before the Committee (e.g., MJP questions), there will be interaction with the Supreme Court’s Commission on the Rules of Professional Conduct, which has just begun its work. 
   
   Staffing for the Committee will be provided by the Supreme Court Clerk’s Office and the Supreme Court’s Bar Admissions Unit.

   Roster Ad Hoc Committee on Bar Admissions
   Hon. John E. Wallace, Jr. - Chair  Superior Court, Apellate Division
   John J. Francis, Jr., Esq. Drinker, Biddle & Shanley
   Hon. Victor Ashrafi Superior Court,  Law Division (Somerset)
   Assoc. Dean Ronald K. Chen  Rutgers Law School - Newark
   Hon. Patricia K. Costello Superior Court, Family Part (Hudson)
   Hon. Mary Catherine Cuff Superior Court, Appellate Division
   Allen A. Etish,  Esq. Kenney & Kearney  (New Jersey State Bar Association)
   Professor Paula A. Franzese  Seton Hall Law School
   Laura M. LeWinn, Esq.
   Ross Lewin, Esq. Windells, Marx, Lane & Mittendorf
   Jeffrey J. Miller, AAG  Director, Division of Law  Office of the Attorney General
   Hon. Edith K. Payne  Superior Court, Law Division (Essex)
   Darryl W. Simpkins, Esq. Simpkins & Simpkins
   Dean Rayman L. Solomon  Rutgers Law School - Camden  Donald H. Steckroth, Esq.  United States Bankruptcy Court
   Peter Tsu-Man Tu, Esq.  Physiome Sciences, Inc. (Asian Pacific American Lawyers Assocation Representative)
   Beverly A. Williams, Esq.  ADP, Inc.
   Hon. Joseph L. Yannotti  Superior Court, Law Division (Bergen)
   E. Neal Zimmermann, Esq.  Waters, McPherson & McNeill

   Two Committee Membership positions remain unfilled. They are for representatives of the:
    

   1. Garden State Bar Association
       
   2. Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey