Rule 202.2 Governs Limited Permission to Practice as Foreign Legal Consultant
A lawyer who is a member in good standing of a recognized legal profession in a foreign country in which the members of the legal profession are admitted to practice as lawyers or counselors at law or the equivalent and are subject to effective regulation and discipline by a duly constituted professional body or public authority whose background and credentials may be effectively assessed, and who will have a systematic Islands Certificate of Limited Practice as a Foreign Legal Consultant.
Any individual who is not an active member of the Virgin Islands Bar who practices as a foreign legal consultant without applying, and ultimately being granted, a Virgin Islands Certificate of Limited Practice as a Foreign Legal Consultant:
i. shall be subject to professional discipline in the Virgin Islands, including for the unauthorized practice of law;
ii. may be deemed ineligible to apply for admission to the Virgin Islands Bar; and
iii. may be referred by the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the Board on Professional Responsibility, or the Board on Unauthorized Practice of Law to the disciplinary authority of another jurisdiction, United States or foreign, in which the individual is licensed to practice law.
To Become a Foreign Legal Consultant Requirements, Include:
(1) File under oath the Supreme Court's form application for a Virgin Islands Certificate of Limited Practice as a Foreign Legal Consultant.
(2) Pay a fee of $500.00
(3) File a certificate of good standing or comparable document from the professional body or public authority having final jurisdiction over professional discipline in the foreign country in which the applicant is admitted, certifying the applicant's admission to practice, date of admission, and good standing as a lawyer or counselor at law or the equivalent.
(4) Demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Committee of Bar Examiners and the Court, that he or she is a person of good moral character. No application for a Virgin Islands Certificate of Limited Practice as a Foreign Legal Consultant may be filed by anyone who has been disbarred, suspended, or sanctioned, without reinstatement or exoneration, or who is under pending disciplinary action by the Bar of any United States foreign jurisdiction, or any Federal Court.
Scope of Practice and Limitations:
May render legal services in this jurisdiction with respect to the foreign country or countries in which the Foreign Legal Consultant is admitted to practice law, but shall not be considered admitted to practice law in the Virgin Islands, and may not hold himself or herself out as anything other than a foreign legal consultant, or do any of the following:
(1) Appear as a lawyer on behalf of another person in any court, or before any magistrate or other judicial officer, in this jurisdiction (except when admitted pro hac vice);
(2) Prepare any instrument effecting the transfer or registration of title to real estate located in the United States of America, including the territories;
(3) Prepare:
(A) Any will or trust instrument effecting the disposition on death of any property located and owned by a resident of the United States of America, or
(B) Any instrument relating to the administration of decedent's estate in the United States of America;
(4) Prepare any instrument in respect of the marital or parental relations, rights, or duties of a resident of the United States of America, or the custody or care of the children of such a resident;
(5) Render professional legal advice on the law of the Virgin Islands, of any other jurisdiction in which he or she is not authorized to practice law, or of the United States of America (whether rendered incident to the preparation of legal instruments or otherwise);
(6) Carry on a practice under, or utilize in connection with such practice, any name, title, or designation other than one or more of the following:
(A) The foreign legal consultant's own name;
(B) The name of the law firm with which the foreign legal consultant is affiliated;
(C) The foreign legal consultant's authorized title in the foreign country of his or her admission to practice, which may be used in conjunction with the name of that country; and
(D) The title "foreign legal consultant," which may be used in conjunction with the words "admitted to the practice of law in [name of the foreign country of his or her admission to practice]."
Under no circumstances may an applicant for a Virgin Islands Certificate of Limited Practice as a Foreign Legal Consultant lawfully perform any of these acts until and unless the Supreme Court grants the application and the applicant is administered the oath or affirmation of office. Failure of an applicant to take the required oath of affirmation within sixty (60) days of notification by the Supreme Court of his or her application being approved shall result in the application for a Virgin Islands Certificate of Limited Practice as a Foreign Legal Consultant to be dismissed for failure to prosecute.
For more information, please review Virgin Islands Supreme Court Rule 202.2.