Section 1. Persons Included in Membership
All members of the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals
shall be members of the District of Columbia Bar subject to due
compliance
with the conditions and requirements of such membership. Residence
in the District of Columbia shall not be a condition of eligibility
to membership.
Section 2. Periodic Registration of Attorneys
(1) Every attorney who engages in the practice of law within the
District of Columbia as defined in Rule 49(b) of the general Rules
of the Court [exclusive of those described in Rule 49(c)] shall
on or before July 1 of every year file with the Secretary of the
Bar a registration statement setting forth his or her current
residence and office addresses, telephone number, other state
jurisdictions in which he or she is admitted to practice including
date of admission, and such other information as the Court may
from time to time direct. In addition to such registration statement,
every attorney shall file a supplemental statement with the Secretary
of any change in the information previously submitted within thirty
days of such change. An attorney who becomes newly subject to
these rules shall file such a registration statement within three
months, or by the following July 1, whichever is later.
(2) Any attorney who has filed a registration statement or supplement
thereto in accordance with paragraph (1) above shall, upon request,
be provided by the Secretary of the Bar with an acknowledgement
of the receipt thereof.
(3) Any attorney who fails to file any registration statement or
supplement thereto in accordance with the requirements of paragraph
(1) above shall, after due notice from the Secretary of the Bar,
be summarily suspended from membership by the Board of Governors
and thereby shall be barred from practicing law in the District
of Columbia until he or she be reinstated as provided under §
7 [§ 8] of this Rule.
(4) An attorney who has retired or is not engaged in practice as
defined in Rule 46II of the General Rules of the Court shall advise,
in writing, the Secretary of the Bar that he desires to assume
inactive status and to discontinue the practice of the law. Upon
the filing of such notice, that attorney shall no longer be eligible
to practice law but shall continued to file registration statements
for 5 years thereafter in order that he may be located in the
event any complaint is made about his conduct while he was engaged
in practice.
(5) Upon the filing of a notice to assume inactive status, an attorney
shall be removed from the roll of those classified as active unless
and until he requests and is granted reinstatement to the active
roll.
Section 3. Mandatory Course for New Admittees
(1) The District of Columbia Bar shall establish a course on the
District of Columbia Rules of Professional Conduct and on District
of Columbia practice to be presented at least six times per year.
(2) Within twelve months after admission to the District of Columbia
Bar, all members admitted after July 1, 1994, shall complete the
course described in paragraph (1) and shall certify compliance
with this requirement in accordance with procedures established
by the Bar.
(3) Any attorney admitted after July 1, 1994, who fails to complete
the course described in paragraph (1) within twelve months after
admission to the District of Columbia Bar shall receive written
notice of noncompliance from the District of Columbia Bar. Any
attorney who fails to comply within sixty days after issuance
of such notice of noncompliance shall be suspended from membership
in the District of Columbia Bar.
(4) Any member otherwise in good standing who is suspended for failure
to complete the course described in paragraph (1) shall be reinstated
as a member of the District of Columbia Bar upon completion of
the mandatory course and fulfillment of such other administrative
requirements as the Board of Governors may impose.
(5) The District of Columbia Bar shall report annually to the District
of Columbia Court of Appeals on the course described in paragraph
(1). The report shall address, among other things, the curriculum,
the faculty, the number of presentations, attendance, and the
number of attorneys suspended under paragraph (3) above.
Section 4. Classes of Membership
The members of the District of Columbia Bar shall be divided into
3 classes known respectively as "active" members, "judicial" members,
and "inactive" members. The class of inactive members shall be
limited to those persons who are eligible for active membership
but are not engaged in the practice of law in the District of Columbia and have filed
with the Secretary of the Bar written notice requesting enrollment
in the class of inactive members. Judges of courts of record, full-time
court commissioners, U.S. bankruptcy judges, U.S. magistrate judges,
other persons who perform a judicial function on an exclusive basis,
in an official capacity created by federal or state statute or
by administrative agency rule, and retired judges who are eligible for
temporary judicial assignment, and are not engaged in the practice
of law, shall be classified as judicial members, except that if a
member's terms and conditions of employment require that he or
she be eligible to practice law, then the member may choose to be an
active member. Any inactive member in good standing and any judicial
member
who is no longer a judge may change his classification to that of
an active member by filing with the Secretary of the Bar a written
request for transfer to the class of active members and by paying
the dues required of active members. A judicial member who is
no longer a judge shall be classified as an active member if he engages in
the practice of law in the District of Columbia. No judicial or
inactive member shall be entitled to practice law in the District of Columbia
or to hold office or vote in any election or other business conducted
by the District of Columbia Bar.
Section 5. Membership Dues
Every member shall pay dues in an amount not to exceed a ceiling
set by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The Board of Governors
shall determine the amount of dues to be paid annually by members
in the various classes of membership. All dues shall be paid to
the Treasurer of the Bar and shall constitute a fund for the payment
of the expenses of the Bar. The Board of Governors may make recommendations
to the Court concerning the amount of the ceiling on membership dues.
If such a recommendation is made, it shall be published by the Court,
and the members of the Bar shall have 60 days, or such other period
as the court may direct, in which to comment. Recommendations by
the Board of Governors for an increase in the dues ceiling shall not
be subject to referendum under Rule VII.
Section 6. Penalty for Nonpayment of Dues;
Late Charges
If the annual dues of any member remain unpaid at the expiration of 90
days from the time when such dues are due and payable, the membership
of such member may be suspended by the Board of Governors in the manner
provided in the By-laws. The Board of Governors, by appropriate provision
in the By-Laws, may impose a reasonable late charge to offset the costs
of notifying members that their dues have not been timely paid. If the
late charge is not timely paid, the membership of such member may be
suspended by the Board of Governors in the manner provided in the By-laws.
No person whose membership is so suspended for nonpayment of dues shall
be entitled to practice law in the District of Columbia during the period
of such suspension.
Section 7. Voluntary Resignation of Membership
Whenever a member of the District of Columbia Bar who is in good
standing and not under investigation as provided in Rule XI §7,
files with the Secretary of the Bar and with Bar Counsel written
notice of such member's election to discontinue the practice of law in the
District of Columbia, and to terminate his membership in the Bar,
such person shall, upon written notice of the acceptance of such
resignation from the Secretary after consultation with Bar Counsel, cease
to be a member of the District of Columbia Bar, and his name shall
be removed from the membership register.
Section 8. Reinstatement
Reinstatement of an attorney following a suspension from membership by
the Board of Governors under § 2(3) or § 5 of this Rule, or
following the assumption of inactive status under § 2(4), or a resignation
under § 6 [§7], shall be governed by rules promulgated by the
Board of Governors after consultation with the Board on Professional
Responsibility of this Court. In an appropriate case, the Board of Governors
may reinstate an attorney to membership nunc pro tunc.
Section 9. Notice to the Clerk
The Secretary of the Bar shall forward forthwith, to the Clerk
of this Court, the names of those attorneys who have filed registration
statements and those whose membership status has been changed in
any way pursuant to the provisions of this Rule.






