AS Title 8, Chapter 8: Attorneys

Article 1. The Alaska Bar Association. Chapter 08. Attorneys. Sec. 08.08.010. Creation of Alaska Bar Association. There is created an instrumentality of the state known as the Alaska Bar Association, referred to in this chapter as the Alaska Bar. The Alaska Bar shall have a common seal, may sue and be sued, and may, for the purpose of carrying into effect and promoting the objects of the Alaska Bar, enter into contracts and acquire, hold, encumber, and dispose of real and personal property. Sec. 08.08.020. Members. (a) Every person licensed to practice law in the state shall become a member in the Alaska Bar. All active and inactive members in good standing as of September 14, 1976, shall be considered to be members. (b) A person licensed to practice law in the state who, on September 14, 1976, is not enrolled on the membership rolls, shall be reinstated as a member only in accordance with the Alaska Bar Rules. Article 2. The Board of Governors and Officers. Sec. 08.08.030. Governance of the Alaska Bar. The Alaska Bar is governed by the Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar. The board has the powers and duties conferred by this chapter and by the Alaska Bar Rules. Members of the board do not receive a salary. Sec. 08.08.040. Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar. (a) There is created a Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar to be elected under bylaws and regulations adopted by the board. (b) The board consists of nine active members elected by the active members of the Alaska Bar and three persons appointed by the governor who are not attorneys. Sec. 08.08.050. Selection of the board. (a) Two members of the board shall be elected by and from among the members of the association resident in the first judicial district; four members of the board shall be elected by and from among the members of the association resident in the third judicial district; two members by and from among the members of the association resident in the combined area of the second and fourth judicial districts; and one member of the board shall be elected at large by and from among the members of the association residing in the entire state. Three members who are not attorneys shall be appointed by the governor and are subject to confirmation by the legislature in joint session. (b) Members of the Board of Governors shall hold office for three years and until their successors are elected or appointed and qualified. (c) Four board members shall be selected on the following triennial rotation: (1) in the first year, one member from the first judicial district, one member from the combined area of the second and fourth judicial districts, one member from the third judicial district, and one appointed member; (2) in the second year, one member at large, two members from the third judicial district, and one appointed member; and (3) in the third year, one member from the combined area of the second and fourth judicial districts, one member from the third judicial district, one member from the first judicial district, and one appointed member. Sec. 08.08.060. Election of officers. The active members of the Alaska Bar who are in actual attendance at the association's annual convention shall elect by a majority vote during the convention the association's officers from the membership of the Board of Governors. Sec. 08.08.070. Vacancies on the board. (a) The board shall fill a vacancy in the elected membership of the board until the next annual election. (b) The governor shall appoint a member to fill a vacancy in the appointed membership of the board for the unexpired term. Sec. 08.08.075. Meetings of the board. AS 44.62.310 — 44.62.319 (Open Meetings Act) apply to the meetings of the board. Members of the Alaska Bar and the public shall be given 30 days' notice of meetings of the board except for emergency meetings. Meetings of the board shall take place in the state. Sec. 08.08.080. Powers of board. (a) Except as may be otherwise provided in this chapter or the Alaska Bar Rules, the board may approve and recommend to the state supreme court rules (1) concerning admission, discipline, licensing, continuing legal education, and defining the practice of law; (2) providing for continuing legal education and for certification of a continuing legal education program; (3) establishing a program for the certification of attorneys as specialists. (b) The board may adopt bylaws and regulations consistent with this chapter and the Alaska Bar Rules (1) concerning membership and the classification of membership in the Alaska Bar; (2) fixing the annual membership fees; (3) concerning annual and special meetings. (c) Consistent with this chapter and the Alaska Bar Rules, the board may (1) provide for employees of the Alaska Bar, the time, place and method of their selection, and their respective powers, duties, terms of office, and compensation; (2) establish, collect, deposit, invest, and disburse membership and admission fees, penalties, and other funds; (3) sue in the name of the Alaska Bar in a court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin a person from doing an act constituting a violation of this chapter; (4) provide for all other matters affecting in any way the organization and functioning of the Alaska Bar. Sec. 08.08.082. Continuing legal education for board members. A member of the Board of Governors each year shall complete the mandatory ethics continuing legal education requirements and the voluntary continuing legal education requirements set out in the Alaska Bar Rules. Sec. 08.08.085. Annual report. (a) The Board of Governors shall annually prepare a report on all matters concerning admissions, discipline of members, and disbarment proceedings, except for those matters defined as confidential by court rule, and notify the legislature that the report is available. (b) The annual report of the Board of Governors must note each addition, modification, or repeal of (1) a bylaw or regulation of the Alaska Bar; (2) the Alaska Bar Rules proposed to or adopted by the state supreme court. (c) The annual report of the Board of Governors may recommend to the legislature changes to this chapter and to the provisions of state law generally. Sec. 08.08.090. Power of the bar to make or change bylaws and regulations. A bylaw or regulation adopted by the Board of Governors may be modified or rescinded, or a new bylaw or regulation may be adopted, by a vote of the active members of the association under bylaws and regulations to be adopted by the Board of Governors. Sec. 08.08.100. Administrative Procedure Act. The bylaws and regulations adopted by the board or the members of the Alaska Bar under this chapter are not subject to AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act). Secs. 08.08.110 — 08.08.120. Admission, suspension and disbarment; disqualification to hear disciplinary matters. [Repealed, § 11 ch 181 SLA 1976.] Article 3. Admission to Alaska Bar. Sec. 08.08.130. Eligibility for admission. [Repealed, § 11 ch 181 SLA 1976.] Sec. 08.08.135. Study of law in office of practicing attorney. [Repealed, § 2 ch 135 SLA 1967.] Sec. 08.08.136. Assistance from law enforcement officers. State and local law enforcement officers shall assist the Board of Governors in the processing of fingerprints of applicants seeking admission to the Alaska Bar Association and shall release the resulting information to the association. Sec. 08.08.137. Fingerprints; social security number. The Board of Governors shall require an applicant for admission to be fingerprinted and to provide the applicant's social security number and provide the fees required by the Department of Public Safety under AS 12.62.160 for criminal justice information and a national criminal history record check. The fingerprints and fees shall be forwarded to the Department of Public Safety to obtain a report of criminal justice information under AS 12.62 and a national criminal history record check under AS 12.62.400 . The Board of Governors may use the information obtained from the fingerprinting only in its official determination of the character and fitness of the applicant for admission to the Alaska Bar Association. The applicant's social security number shall be provided to the child support services agency established in AS 25.27.010 , or the child support enforcement agency of another state, upon request by the respective agency; the requesting agency may use that information only for child support purposes authorized under law. Secs. 08.08.140 — 08.08.200. Out-of-state attorneys; fee provisions; procedure for admission. [Repealed, § 11 ch 181 SLA 1976.] Sec. 08.08.201. Administration of bar examination. (a) The Board of Governors shall administer the bar examination under the Alaska Bar Rules. (b) The Board of Governors may contract with another state or a testing organization for the preparation and grading of a portion of the Alaska Bar examination. (c) The Board of Governors shall contract with persons experienced in the administration of bar examinations for advice on the preparation and grading of the portion of the bar examination prepared under the direction of the board. (d) The Board of Governors shall establish and maintain standards for experience and training of persons who administer the portion of the bar examination prepared under the direction of the board. Sec. 08.08.205. Eligibility to take bar examination. Applicants who have not graduated from an accredited law school but are otherwise qualified may take the bar examination if they have completed a clerkship in the manner prescribed by AS 08.08.207 . Sec. 08.08.207. Law clerks. (a) Every person who desires subsequently to qualify as a general applicant for admission to the Alaska Bar without having been graduated from an approved law school shall register as a law clerk as provided by this section. The person shall present satisfactory proof that the person has been granted a bachelor's degree, other than bachelor of laws, by a college or university offering the degree on the basis of a four-year course of study and has successfully completed the first year of studies at a law school. (b) The applicant shall obtain regular and full-time employment as a law clerk in the office of a judge of a court of record or an attorney or firm of attorneys licensed to practice law in the state and engaged in the general practice of law. The person by whom the applicant is employed, or, if the applicant is employed by a firm, the person under whose direction the applicant is to study, must have been admitted to practice law in the state for at least five years at the time the application for registration is filed, and be otherwise eligible to act as tutor. Before the commencement of the study of law under this section, the applicant shall file with the university an application to register as a law clerk. The application shall be made on a form to be provided by the university and shall require answers to interrogatories the university may determine from time to time to be relevant to a consideration of the application. Proof of a fact stated in the application may be required by the university. If the applicant fails or refuses to furnish any information or proof or answer any interrogatory required by the application, or independently by the university, in a manner satisfactory to the university, the application may be denied. (c) Accompanying the application there must be submitted a statement under oath of the person by whom the applicant is employed as a law clerk, or, if the applicant is employed by a firm, of the person under whose direction the applicant is to study, certifying to the fact of the employment and that that person will act as tutor for the applicant and will faithfully instruct the applicant in the branches of the law prescribed by the course of study adopted by the university. A person is not eligible to act as tutor while disciplinary proceedings, following the service of a formal complaint, are pending against the person, or if the person has ever been censured, reprimanded, suspended or disbarred. If a registered law clerk finds it necessary to change tutors during the period of study, a new application for registration as a law clerk is required and such credit given for study under a prior tutor as the university may determine. (d) A law clerk whose registration has been approved by the university must pursue a course of study for three calendar years of at least 44 weeks each year, with a minimum each week of 35 hours of study. Time spent in the performance of the duties of the law clerk is considered time spent in the study of law. The tutor must give personal direction regularly and frequently to the law clerk, must examine the law clerk at least once a month on the work done in the previous month, and must certify monthly as to compliance with the requirements of this subsection and (e) and (g) of this section. (e) The examinations shall be written and not oral, and shall be answered by the clerk without research or assistance during the examination. The monthly certificate of compliance submitted by the tutor shall be accompanied by the originals of all written examinations and answers given during the period reported. If the certificates, together with the required attachments, are not filed timely with the university, no credit may be given for any period of the default. (f) If a registered law clerk does not furnish evidence of completion of law studies within a period of six years after registration, the university may cancel the registration. (g) The course of study to be pursued by a registered law clerk shall cover subjects, textbooks, casebooks, and other material the university may from time to time require. (h) A registered law clerk who has attended either an approved or a nonapproved law school may, in the discretion of the university, receive credit for work done and obtain advanced standing. In no event will credit be given for fractional parts of semesters or terms, or for correspondence school work. (i) In this section, (1) “law school” means an accredited law school approved by or meeting the standards of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions of the American Bar Association or the Association of American Law Schools or a school in the state offering a course of study that the university approves as equivalent to a year's study in a law school under this section; (2) “university” means the University of Alaska. Article 4. Unlawful Acts. Sec. 08.08.210. Who may practice law. (a) A person may not engage in the practice of law in the state unless the person is licensed to practice law in the state and is an active member of the Alaska Bar. A member of the bar in good standing in another jurisdiction may appear in the courts of the state under the rules the supreme court may adopt. (b) The practice of law shall be defined in the Alaska Bar Rules. (c) This section and AS 08.08.230 do not apply to the practice of law for the legislature by a person employed by or under contract with the legislature until the results are released of the third Alaska Bar examination following that person's employment. (d) Employees of the Department of Law, the Public Defender Agency, and the office of public advocacy whose activities would constitute the practice of law under this chapter and under Alaska Bar Rules are required to obtain a license to practice law in the state not later than 10 months following the commencement of employment. Sec. 08.08.220. Disciplinary proceedings and review. [Repealed, § 5 ch 94 SLA 1980.] Sec. 08.08.230. Unlawful practice a misdemeanor. (a) A person not an active member of the Alaska Bar and not licensed to practice law in the state who engages in the practice of law or holds out as entitled to engage in the practice of law as that term is defined in the Alaska Bar Rules, or an active member of the Alaska Bar who wilfully employs such a person knowing that the person is engaging in the practice of law or holding out as entitled to so engage, is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. (b) This section does not prohibit the use of paralegal personnel as defined by rules of the Alaska supreme court. Sec. 08.08.240. Suspension upon conviction of certain crime. [Repealed, § 11 ch 181 SLA 1976.] Article 5. General Provisions. Sec. 08.08.245. Definitions. [Repealed, § 3 ch 135 SLA 1967.] Sec. 08.08.250. Short title. This chapter may be cited as the Alaska Integrated Bar Act.