S. Ct. BA. No. 2013-0148

In petitions for the pro hac vice admission of two attorneys employed by a large law firm, as well as an opposition filed by the Committee of Bar Examiners, the petitions are denied. While these two attorneys have not previously been granted pro hac vice admission in the Virgin Islands, other attorneys from the same large firm have previously been admitted pro hac vice 29 times in proceedings before the Superior Court and the District Court. Under Rule 201(a)(4) no attorney or law firm may appear pro hac vice in more than a total of three causes, and that extended practice on a pro hac vice basis is expressly prohibited. This rule requires that prior pro hac vice admissions of individual attorneys from this firm be imputed to the two applicants here. An attorney may not appear pro hac vice if other attorneys from the law firm that employs the attorney have been granted such admission on three or more prior occasions. Consequently, the petitioning attorneys in this instance do not qualify for pro hac vice admission. The heavy burden of showing grounds for waiver of Rule restrictions for valid and extraordinary reasons has not been met, and requiring the two applicants to comply with the three admission rule does not deny admission arbitrarily and for a reason unrelated to the essential purpose of the rule. The petitions are denied.