The Supreme Court of South Carolina

RE: Relaxation of Rules for Admission Pro Hac Vice and for Admission to Practice of
Law for Lawyers Displaced by Hurricane Katrina

ORDER

In recognition of the devastation and disruption of daily life suffered by the residents of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as a result of Hurricane Katrina, we offer our support to the lawyers admitted to practice in those states, and who have been displaced due to Hurricane Katrina, by relaxing our rules for admission pro hac vice and for admission to the practice of law in the State of South Carolina.

For lawyers who are admitted to practice law in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina, we hereby waive the fee required by Rule 404, SCACR, for admission pro hac vice.  Moreover, we waive the requirement that an application for admission pro hac vice be filed in each matter in which the lawyer participates.  Instead, affected lawyers may file an application for admission pro hac vice, which contains the information required by Rule 404(c), with this Court seeking to be admitted pro hac vice for a period of time not to exceed nine months from the date of this order.  If the application is granted, the lawyer may participate pro hac vice in multiple matters during that period of time if an attorney admitted to practice law in South Carolina is associated as attorney of record.

We also extend the application period for taking the February 2006 South Carolina Bar Examination until November 15, 2005, and waive all application fees for lawyers admitted to practice law in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Finally, the South Carolina Bar is encouraging its members to offer assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina in a host of ways, including offering the use of office space and other services to displaced lawyers as they attempt to resume normal and professional activity.  We would like to assure members of the Bar as well as the displaced lawyers that it is not the unauthorized practice of law for members of the Bar to assist displaced lawyers in this manner nor for a displaced lawyer to handle their client base from this state.           

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Columbia, South Carolina
September 13, 2005