Rule 342. Practice by foreign legal consultants.
(a) Prohibited activities. A person licensed to practice as a foreign legal consultant under Rule 341 (relating to licensing of foreign legal consultants) may render legal services in this Commonwealth with respect to the law of the foreign country where the foreign legal consultant is admitted to practice law, subject, however, to the limitations that he or she shall not:
(1) appear for a person other than himself or herself as attorney in any court, or before any magistrate or other judicial officer, in this Commonwealth (other than upon admission pro hac vice pursuant to Rule 301 (relating to admission pro hac vice));
(2) prepare any instrument effecting the transfer or registration of title to real estate located in the United States of America;
(3) prepare:
(i) any will or trust instrument effecting the disposition on death of any property located in the United States of America and owned by a resident thereof, or
(ii) any instrument relating to the administration of a decedent’s estate in the United States of America;
(4) prepare any instrument in respect of the marital or parental relations, rights or duties of a resident of the United States of America, or the custody or care of the children of such a resident;
(5) render professional legal advice on the law of this Commonwealth, of any other jurisdiction in which he or she is not authorized to practice law or of the United States of America (whether rendered incident to the preparation of legal instruments or otherwise);
(6) be, or in any way hold himself or herself out as, a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania; or
(7) carry on his or her practice under, or utilize in connection with such practice, any name, title or designation other than one or more of the following:
(i) his or her own name;
(ii) the name of the law firm with which he or she is affiliated;
(iii) his or her authorized title in the foreign country of his or her admission to practice, which may be used in conjunction with the name of such country; and
(iv) the title ‘‘foreign legal consultant,’’ which may be used in conjunction with the words ‘‘admitted to the practice of law in [name of the foreign country of his or her admission to practice].’’
(b) Rights and obligations. Subject to the limitations set forth in Subdivision (a) of this Rule, a person licensed as a foreign legal consultant under Rule 341 shall be considered a lawyer affiliated with the bar of this Commonwealth and shall be entitled and subject to:
(1) the rights and obligations set forth in the Rules of Professional Conduct or arising from the other conditions and requirements that apply to a member of the bar of this Commonwealth under the Enforcement Rules; and
(2) the rights and obligations of a member of the bar of this Commonwealth with respect to:
(i) affiliation in the same law firm with one or more members of the bar of this Commonwealth, including by:
(A) employing one or more members of the bar of this Commonwealth;
(B) being employed by one or more members of the bar of this Commonwealth or by any law firm that includes members of the bar of this Commonwealth or which maintains an office in this Commonwealth; and
(C) being a partner in any law firm that includes members of the bar of this Commonwealth or which maintains an office in this Commonwealth; and
(ii) attorney-client privilege, work-product privilege and similar professional privileges.
(c) Discipline. A person licensed to practice as a foreign legal consultant under Rule 341 shall be subject to professional discipline in the same manner and to the same extent as members of the bar of this Commonwealth. The license of a foreign legal consultant shall be revoked when he or she no longer meets the requirements and obligations for licensing set forth in Rule 341(a)(1). A foreign legal consultant shall not be subject to the Pennsylvania Rules for Continuing Legal Education.
(d) Service of process. Service of process on the Executive Director of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, pursuant to the designation filed under Rule 341(b)(8), shall be made by personally delivering to the Executive Director, or a deputy or assistant authorized by him or her to receive such service, at his or her office, duplicate copies of such process together with a fee as set by the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court. Service of process shall be complete when the Executive Director of the Disciplinary Board has been so served. The Executive Director of the Disciplinary Board shall promptly send one of such copies to the foreign legal consultant to whom the process is directed, by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the foreign legal consultant at the address specified by him or her as provided in Rule 341(b)(8).
Source The provisions of this Rule 342 adopted March 17, 2005, effective September 1, 2005, 35 Pa.B. 1970; amended October 25, 2019, effective immediately, 49 Pa.B. 6705. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (310435) to (310436) and (395113).
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