July 30, 2001



00-22



Amendment of Rule 9.104
of the Michigan Court Rules
______________________________


          On order of the Court, notice of the proposed changes and
an opportunity for comment in writing and at a public hearing
having been provided, and consideration having been given to the
comments received, the following amendments of Rule 9.104 of the
Michigan Court Rules and Rule 8.1 of the Michigan Rules of
Professional Conduct are adopted, to be effective immediately.

     [The present language is amended as indicated below.]

ICLE Editor's Note:


[Italicized, bracketed text] indicates text that has been
deleted.

Bold text  indicates new text.



Rule 9.104     Grounds for Discipline in General; Adjudication
Elsewhere

(A)     The following acts or omissions by an attorney,
individually or in concert with another person, are misconduct and
grounds for discipline, whether or not occurring in the course of
an attorney-client relationship:

     (1) - (9) [Unchanged.]

(B)     Proof of an adjudication of misconduct in a
disciplinary proceeding by another state or a United States court
is conclusive proof of misconduct in a disciplinary proceeding in
Michigan.  The only issues to be addressed in the Michigan
proceeding are whether the respondent was afforded due process of
law in the course of the original proceedings and whether
imposition of identical discipline in Michigan would be clearly
inappropriate..

RULE 8.1 BAR ADMISSION AND DISCIPLINARY MATTERS


MRPC 8.1     Bar Admission and Disciplinary Matters

(a)     An applicant for admission to the bar, or a lawyer
in connection with a bar admission application or in connection
with a disciplinary matter, shall not[:]

     [(a)](1)   knowingly make a false statement of
material fact,  or

     [(b)](2)   fail to disclose a fact necessary to
correct a misapprehension known by the person to have arisen in the
matter, or knowingly fail to respond to a lawful demand for
information from an admissions or disciplinary authority, except
that this rule does not require disclosure of information protected
by Rule 1.6.

(b)     An applicant for admission to the bar

     (1)  shall not engage in the unauthorized practice of law
(this does not apply to activities permitted under MCR 8.120), and 

     (2)  has a continuing obligation, until the date of admission,
to inform the standing committee on character and fitness, in
writing, if any answers in the applicant's affidavit of personal
history change or cease to be true.


          Staff Comment:  The July 30, 2001 amendment of
MRPC 8.1 expressly precluded bar applicants from engaging in the
unauthorized practice of law, and stated an applicant's continuing
obligation to update the affidavit of personal history.  The
structure of  MCR 9.104 was changed for greater clarity.

The staff comment is published only for the benefit of the bench
and Bar and is not an authoritative construction by the Court.