In every jurisdiction, lawyers practicing pro hac vice are subject to discipline by the jurisdiction in which they are visiting. To that end, most courts and bar associations who administer the pro hac vice admission rules require one or both of the following as a condition of admission: (1) that local counsel vouch for the pro hac vice attorney with respect to his or her ability to learn the local law and comply with matters of local practice, including local rules, and (2) that the pro hac vice applicant swear to abide by the written rules and make a proactive effort to learn them. Pro hac vice admission is a method that resolves the tension between the growing need to practice across state lines, especially as the world goes digital, and the interest of local courts to ensure that attorneys who practice before them are qualified to both advise their clients on local laws and comply with local rules of practice and custom. By some estimates, nearly 15% of all lawsuits filed in the United States each year involve the assistance of an attorney admitted pro hac vice. Finally, companies that used to be local or regional who are finding themselves doing business across state lines may want to take their local, trusted attorney with them. With the rise of mass tort litigation and increasing reliance on Multidistrict Litigation as a tool to streamline “serial” forms of litigation, pro hac vice admission is becoming a commonly used method for subject matter experts to practice outside their home jurisdictions.
Peter Zenger, the 1735 free speech case. It has appeared often in highly-publicized cases such as the case involving Larry Flynt and Hustler magazine. Pro hac vice admission is older than the Republic. jurisdictions, attorneys who practice pro hac vice must do so with a local lawyer acting as local counsel.
For example, an Ohio licensed attorney may practice pro hac vice in a New York case, although normally he or she would be engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in New York without admission to the New York Bar. Pro hac vice is a legal term for adding an attorney to a case in a jurisdiction in which he or she is not licensed to practice in such a way that the attorney does not commit unauthorized practice of law.