Court of Appeals Approves First Comprehensive Changes to Rules Governing the Bar

January 23, 2024

On January 10 the D.C. Court of Appeals adopted comprehensive amendments to the Rules Governing the District of Columbia Bar. These amendments mark the first time since the Bar’s founding more than 50 years ago that the Rules have been comprehensively reviewed and updated.

The amendments address “inconsistencies, inefficiencies, redundancies, loopholes, and misinterpretations” resulting from ad hoc changes adopted over five decades as the Bar grew and developed.

The original Rules went into effect when the Bar was established on April 1, 1972, and the organization’s Bylaws — which address the Bar’s governance and membership — were adopted on January 1, 1973. Since then, both documents were modified on an as-needed basis, but never globally or in concert with one another.

Work on the amendments, which included review of the Bar’s Bylaws, took place between 2020 and 2022, with the D.C. Bar Regulations/Rules/Board Procedures Committee (now the D.C. Bar Governance Committee) tasked to focus its review on editorial changes, removal of administrative details from the Bylaws, and revisions to modernize the document and reflect actual procedures of the Board of Governors and the Bar’s membership.

The Governance Committee began its work by reviewing the Bar’s Bylaws, developing a framework for the project, and adopting principles to inform every aspect of its review. After engaging in an iterative and substantive analysis of the proposed revisions, the committee delivered its recommendation to the Board of Governors. On April 12, 2022, the Board of Governors unanimously approved the revised Bylaws as recommended by the committee, and on March 6, 2023, it petitioned the court to consider and approve several amendments to the Rules.

In transmitting the proposed amendments to the Court of Appeals, D.C. Bar Immediate Past President Ellen M. Jakovic said the committee carefully considered appropriate amendments to the Rules to make both the Rules and the Bar’s Bylaws “‘user-friendly’ for the members, to minimize redundancy, and to ensure consistency between the two governing documents.”

The Board stated that the “amendments to the Rules will make it easier for D.C. Bar members to locate applicable rules and requirements regarding their membership and other procedures related to the Board and the Bar. These changes will also afford the Bar and the Board some flexibility in addressing basic governance issues, organizational concerns, as well as administrative and other matters related to membership.”  

“I want to thank the D.C. Court of Appeals for recognizing the Bar’s need to ensure that its governing documents clearly define our organization’s functions, facilitate ease of administration of the Bar’s policies and procedures, and conform to industry best practices for effective governance,” said D.C. Bar President Charles R. Lowery Jr. “With the updated Rules, the Bar stands on an even stronger foundation to better serve its members.”

Lowery also extended his special thanks to Mark A. Salzberg, former chair of the D.C. Bar Governance Committee, as well as to other members of the committee “for all their hard work to make the Rules and Bylaws clear, consistent, flexible, and empowering to our members.”

The following is a brief summary of the revisions:

Rule I (Organization of the Bar)
Adding “to assist the legal profession in maintaining high standards of the practice of law in the District of Columbia” and “to promote access to justice and enhance the delivery of legal services to those in need” to the enumerated purposes of the Bar.

Rule II (Membership)
Under new Section 3, updating and defining the classes of D.C. Bar membership and adding “retired” as an additional category.

Under new Section 4, changing references to “membership dues” or “dues” to “license fees” throughout the Rules.

Rules III (Officers), IV (Board of Governors), V (Public Statements), and VI (Meetings of the Bar)
Simplifying and streamlining the content of Rules III through VI, the majority of which pertained to Board-related details and membership meetings that are now properly set forth in the Bylaws.

Changing the title for Rule V from Executive Committee to Public Statements and deleting almost all of the previous content under that Rule, except language pertaining to “public expressions.” Due to the challenges posed against integrated bars across the country, the Board recommended that it would be prudent to retain this explicit limitation on the Bar’s ability to make public statements in the Rules.

The Court of Appeals also approved minor editorial changes to Rules VII (Referendum Procedure), VIII (Disbursements), and IX (Bylaws).

Additionally, Section 2 of Rule XV (Amendment of Rules) is deleted in its entirety from the Rules because the provision governing Bylaws amendments exists appropriately in Bylaws Article X.

“The Bylaws are the appropriate governing document to set forth how they may be amended.
Having an identical provision in the Rules would be redundant and unnecessary — and, worse, could cause confusion and inconsistency between the Bylaws and the Rules,” the Board said.

Read in full the court’s order amending the Bar’s Rules here. The amended Rules take effect March 4, 2024.