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Supporters say law‑student supervised practice and streamlined admission for some out‑of‑state attorneys would expand access to justice
Summary
State Appellate Defender Office, legal‑aid advocates and other commenters urged the court to adopt amendments (ADM 2022‑49) to let law students and recent graduates staff programs and to simplify admission routes for already‑barred out‑of‑state attorneys, citing capacity and continuity benefits.
Speakers urged the Michigan Supreme Court to adopt ADM 2022‑49, which would amend MCR 8.120 and Board of Law Examiners Rule 5 to expand supervised practice opportunities and allow certain foreign or out‑of‑state attorneys to count supervised practice time toward admission without strict pro hac vice procedures.
Jacqueline McCann of the State Appellate Defender’s Office said supervised practice is working well for interns and recent graduates but that out‑of‑state barred attorneys face lengthy pro hac vice processes. “My last supervisee was an attorney barred in New York and it took her about 14 months to get through the process in Michigan,” McCann said. She suggested folding “individuals already barred” into MCR 8.120 so they could practice under the same supervised rules as law students for the 12–15 month period envisioned by the proposal.
Lydia Christiansen, identifying herself as a law student and an independent U.S. Senate candidate, and Taura Brown, a law student, both urged adoption on access grounds. Brown supported extending supervised practice from 12 to 15 months to help graduates awaiting bar results and to preserve continuity for vulnerable clients.
Commenters said the change would be especially useful to smaller offices across the state and to prosecutors and defense offices that struggle to recruit experienced counsel. The court took questions but did not act at the hearing.
