NCSB Journal Summer 2026

RULE AMENDMENTS

Amendments Pending Supreme Court Approval

Amendments to the Discipline and Disability Rules

At its meeting on April 24, 2026, the council voted to adopt the following rule amendment for transmission to the North Carolina Supreme Court for its approval. (For the complete text of the rule amend ment, see the Spring 2026 edition of the Journal or visit the State Bar website: ncbar.gov.

Highlights · On April 24, 2026, amendments to the Discipline and Disability Rules were approved for adoption. · Th e council also approved for publi cation proposed amendments to the Rules Governing Regulations for Or ganizations Practicing Law and Pro cedures for the Administrative Com mittee. · Th e Board of Law Examiners pro posed to the council a rule amend ment for publication regarding license portability for relocated servicemem bers and spouses of servicemembers.

27 NCAC 1B, Section .0100, Rule .0120, Reciprocal Discipline and Disability Proceedings Th e proposed amendment clarifies and streamlines the reciprocal discipline process and incorporates reciprocity with o ffi cially recognized tribal courts.

Proposed Amendments

At its meeting on April 24, 2026, the council voted to publish for comment the fol lowing proposed rule amendments: Proposed Amendments to the Rules Governing Standing Committees of the Council 27 NCAC 1A, Section .0700 Th e proposed amendments: 1) combine the existing Issues and Access to Justice Committees—along with their respective, similar missions—into a single, standing com mittee of the State Bar Council (this portion was published following the January meet ing), 2) clarify Grievance Committee compo sition and quorum requirements, and 3) reflect that the full Grievance Committee, not the subcommittees, authorizes the disposition of grievance files. (a) Standing Committees. Promptly after his or her election, the president shall appoint members to the standing committees identi fied below to serve for one year beginning January 1 of the year succeeding his or her election. Members of the committees need not be councilors, except to the extent express ly required by these rules, and may include Rule .0701, Standing Committees and Boards

non-lawyers. Unless otherwise directed by res olution of the council, all members of a stand ing committee, whether councilors or non councilors, shall be entitled to vote as mem bers of the standing committee or any sub committee or panel thereof. (1) ... (3) Grievance Committee. It shall be the duty of the Grievance Committee to exercise the disciplinary and disability functions and responsibilities set forth in Section .0100 of Subchapter 1B of these rules, and to make rec ommendations to the council for such rule amendments to that section as the committee deems necessary or appropriate , and to per form any other duties delegated to it by the council or the president . Th e Grievance Committee shall have at least 30 members and shall sit in subcommittees , as assigned by the president. Each subcommittee each of which shall have at least ten members. Two members of each subcommittee shall be non lawyers, one member may be a lawyer adviso rymember who is not a member of the coun cil, and the remaining members of each sub committee shall be councilors of the North Carolina State Bar. A quorum of the Grievance Committee shall be ten members of the committee and a quorum of asubcom mittee shall be five members of the subcom

mittee. serving at a particular time. One sub committee shall oversee the Attorney Client Assistance Program. It shall be the duty of the Attorney Client Assistance subcommittee to develop and oversee policies and programs to help clients and lawyers resolve di ffi culties or disputes, including fee disputes, using means other than the formal grievance or civil litiga tion processes; and to perform such other duties and consider such other matters as the council or the president may designate. Each subcommittee shall exercise the powers and discharge the duties of the Grievance Committee with respect to the grievances, fee disputes, and other matters referred to it by the chairperson of the Grievance Committee. Each subcommittee member of the Grievance Committee shall be furnished a brief description of all matters referred to other subcommittees (and such other avail able information as he or she may request) and be given a reasonable opportunity to receive all reports of counsel and supporting materials for all grievances on the commit tee’s quarterly meeting agenda and may pro vide comments to any such other subcommit tees. subcommittee . Each subcommittee shall

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