Law Practice
Jan. 10, 2025
Federal courts to out-of-state lawyers: Get lost
A bizarre maze of "local" and "local-local" rules keeps qualified lawyers from crossing district lines in federal courts--where even those admitted to argue before the Supreme Court can't practice in lower courts without jumping through each district's special hoops.
Richard W. Morris
Richard W. Morris is a retired lawyer admitted in the United States Supreme Court, two U.S. states (Arizona and California), and the United Kingdom of England and Wales.
Any lawyer who's ventured into the courtroom of another state has likely experienced the delightful phenomenon of being "hometowned." That's right -- faced with a judge who favors the locals over outsiders, the visiting lawyers often find themselves on the wrong side of a bench that suddenly feels like a hometown fan club. But don't worry -- it's just an attitude, not a rule, right? Or is it?
Let's imagine the rules require judges to discriminate agai...
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