Cite as 2016 Ark. 408
SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS
IN RE AMENDMENT TO RULES Opinion Delivered November 17, 2016
GOVERNING ADMISSION TO THE
BAR, RULE VII(C)(17)
PER CURIAM
On June 18, 2015, we adopted as final the Arkansas Bar Association’s
recommendation concerning amendments to Rule VII(C) of the Rules Governing
Admission to the Bar. In re Amendments to Rules Governing Admission to the Bar, Rule VII,
2015 Ark. 280 (per curiam). The rule as amended provides for the automatic suspension of
attorneys who fail to pay the annual fee by the final deadline of April 15 following three
pre-suspension notices. The rule also requires the court to identify attorneys so suspended
in per curiam opinions following the final deadline each year and requires the clerk of this
court to mail a copy of the per curiam opinions to each suspended attorney and to all judges
in the state.
The list attached to the most recent Rule VII per curiam opinion is 29 pages in
length and identifies 763 suspended attorneys, the vast majority of whom have failed to pay
the annual fee for several years. See In re Updated List of Attorneys Suspended for Failure to Pay
2016 Annual Attorney-License Fee, 2016 Ark. 260 (per curiam). Additionally, it appears that
many of those suspended attorneys have failed to keep current their contact information on
file with the clerk as required by Rule VII(F) as many of the copies of the per curiam
opinions sent to the suspended attorneys were returned as undeliverable. In other words,
Cite as 2016 Ark. 408
many of these 763 attorneys appear to have abandoned their licenses to practice law, and
further attempts to notify these attorneys is likely futile and a waste of court resources.
Today, we amend Rule VII(C)(17) as set out below to provide that attorney licenses
that have been or that become suspended for more than three (3) consecutive years for
failure to pay annual fees shall be deemed surrendered voluntarily, and the names of those
attorneys shall be removed from the roster of licensed attorneys. This amendment is effective
immediately.
RULES GOVERNING ADMISSION TO THE BAR
Rule VII. Application for license.
....
C. SUSPENSION FOR FAILURE TO PAY FEE
....
(17) If a suspension is for more than three (3) consecutive years, the attorney shall be
deemed to have surrendered his or her license voluntarily, and the attorney’s name shall be
removed from the roles of licensed attorneys. To be reinstated, application must be made
to the Board of Law Examiners by the suspended attorney on a form supplied by the
Executive Secretary of the Board and accompanied by a tender of all unpaid license fees and
penalties and a Board reinstatement fee of $100.
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