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In the legal field, ''pro hac vice'' () is a practice in
common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...
jurisdictions whereby a
lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...
who has not been admitted to practice in a certain
jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...
is allowed to participate in a particular case in that jurisdiction. Although ''pro hac vice'' admission is available in every American jurisdiction,, Cornell University Law School
(Accessed July 13, 2015) (discussing existence of pro hac vice statutes in all fifty states)
civil law jurisdictions generally have much stricter rules for multi-jurisdictional practice. The term is used by the Catholic Church as well.


Origins

''Pro hac vice'' is Latin "for this occasion" or "for this event" (literally, "for this turn"). The origins of the doctrine of admission ''pro hac vice'' have been traced as far back as 1629 in the English Court of Common Pleas. The doctrine appeared in America as early as 1735 in the
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
trial of John Peter Zenger for
libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...
, when the
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
attorney Andrew Hamilton was permitted to appear on Zenger's behalf. By 1876, the custom had become "general and uniform" in the United States.


Modern application in common law jurisdictions

The right to appear is not guaranteed, and 50-state surveys have shown that "most jurisdictions intend for pro hac vice admission to be used on a sparing and occasional basis." Generally, the attorney who requests authorization to practice in a jurisdiction within which they are not licensed must specifically request permission from the court to be able to appear as an attorney of record. Depending on the local rules and procedures, this may be accomplished with a
motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and m ...
to appear , in which an attorney who is licensed in the jurisdiction requests that the non‐licensed attorney be admitted to practice in a particular case. In most jurisdictions, an attorney appearing ''pro hac vice'' must continue to associate with a locally licensed attorney (referred to as "local counsel"), though the degree to which the local counsel is required or expected to participate in the matter varies widely; some courts may require local counsel to sign documents and appear in court, while others may grant the ''pro hac vice'' counsel more independence. In addition to the motion, the out-of-jurisdiction attorney is typically required to provide the court with a statement from his local
bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to se ...
indicating that he or she is a member in good standing and also pay a small fee to the court or its local bar association. For example, there is a $25 annual fee in the
United States District Court for the District of Delaware The United States District Court for the District of Delaware (in case citations, D. Del.) is the Federal district court having jurisdiction over the entire state of Delaware. The Court sits in Wilmington. Currently, four district judges and ...
, and the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New ...
charges a $200 fee to file a motion for admission ''pro hac vice''.


Catholic Church use

The expression is also used in the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
when a titular diocese becomes the title of an archbishop rather than of a bishop. Similarly, when a Cardinal-Deacon is promoted to Cardinal-Priest he usually retains his titular deaconry. This deaconry is then said to be elevated ''pro hac vice'' to the rank of a titular church. When referring to a titular diocese or titular deaconry which once was elevated ''pro hac vice'' but by now has reverted to its original rank the term ''pro illa vice'' is used in church documents.


Other uses

In
maritime law Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between priv ...
, a demise charterer is considered the owner ''pro hac vice'' for limited liability purposes, whereas time or voyage charterers are not.Roman T. Keenan
''Charter Parties and Bills of Lading''
42 346 (1959)


Notable example

Although neither
William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...
nor
Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the early 20th century for his involvement in the Leopold and Loeb murder trial and the Scopes "Monkey" Trial. He was a leading member of t ...
was licensed to practice law in
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...
, both were permitted to appear in the Scopes Trial.{{citation needed, date=June 2021


References

Latin legal terminology