Rule 15-303 of the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar allows law professors licensed in other jurisdictions, or inactive members of the New Mexico Bar, to practice as a lawyer in any state court or before any state administrative tribunal to the extent necessary to supervise clinical law students in clinical law programs that are approved by the law school Dean.
Eligibility
Law professors must:
- Be duly employed as full-time permanent or visiting faculty members of the University of New Mexico School of Law, teaching in a classroom setting at the law school, and supervising students in a clinical law program.
- Be admitted by examination to the bar of another state or the District of Columbia.
- Cannot ask for nor receive any compensation or remuneration of any kind for services rendered other than the salary as a law professor.
- Certify in writing that the law professor has read and is familiar with the New Mexico Rules of Professional Conduct and the Rules of the Supreme Court of New Mexico and New Mexico statutes relating to the conduct of lawyers.
Certified law professors cannot be members of the New Mexico Bar but are subject to all disciplinary procedures provided by law, Supreme Court rules governing the discipline of lawyers, or both. Law professors are required to pay the annual disciplinary fee.
Application and Certification
The law school Dean must certify the law professor or the supervisor is in the clinical law program. The Dean certification and the law professor certification relating the rules of professional conduct will be filed with the Clerk of the New Mexico Supreme Court at the beginning of each academic year and remains in effect for that academic year.