Yes, a lawyer from another state can represent you, but not automatically. An out-of-state attorney needs specific permission from the court or the state bar before handling your case, and the route they take depends on whether they’re appearing for one matter or planning to practice regularly in your jurisdiction. The most common path is pro hac vice admission, which grants permission for a single case and almost always requires the visiting attorney to partner with a locally licensed lawyer.
Pro Hac Vice: One Case at a Time
Pro hac vice is Latin for “this time only,” and that captures how it works. A court grants the out-of-state attorney permission to appear in one specific case. It is not a general license to take on other clients in the state.
To get pro hac vice status, the attorney files a motion with the court. The motion typically includes proof of good standing with their home state’s bar and an agreement to follow the host state’s rules of professional conduct. In nearly all jurisdictions, the attorney must also have local co-counsel who vouches for them and helps them comply with local practice requirements.1Legal Information Institute. Pro Hac Vice
Approval is not guaranteed. Courts have discretion to deny a pro hac vice motion, and in civil cases there’s no constitutional right to a specific attorney. Criminal cases get more careful scrutiny because denying an out-of-state attorney can implicate the defendant’s right to counsel of choice. Some states also limit how often an attorney can use pro hac vice within a set period; if a court concludes the attorney is using it to sidestep joining the local bar, the motion can be denied.1Legal Information Institute. Pro Hac Vice
Fees for pro hac vice admission vary widely by jurisdiction, so ask your attorney what the court in your state charges before agreeing to a fee arrangement.
Why You’ll Usually Be Paying Two Lawyers
Almost every state requires the pro hac vice attorney to work with a locally licensed lawyer, and the local counsel’s role is not a formality. In some states, local counsel must have enough involvement to sign stipulations on your behalf and appear at every hearing. In federal courts and some state courts, the visiting attorney functions as lead counsel while local counsel handles filings, advises on local rules, and appears when required. Other jurisdictions sit in the middle, requiring local counsel at court hearings but not depositions.1Legal Information Institute. Pro Hac Vice
In many jurisdictions, local counsel carries malpractice risk in the case. They are not just lending a name to a filing. That real liability is one reason local counsel expects to be paid for the role. You end up paying both the out-of-state lawyer you chose and the local lawyer the system requires. Before signing anything, ask both attorneys to walk you through how the fees will be structured and who is responsible for what.
When attorneys from different firms split a fee, professional conduct rules require that the split be proportional to the work each performs, or that both accept joint responsibility for the case. Either way, you have to agree to the arrangement in writing, including each lawyer’s share, and the total fee must be reasonable.2American Bar Association. Model Rules of Professional Conduct – Rule 1.5 Fees
If Your Attorney Wants to Practice Here Long-Term
If your out-of-state attorney plans to practice regularly in your state rather than handle a single case, pro hac vice is the wrong tool. Two other paths exist.
Admission on motion, sometimes called reciprocity, lets experienced attorneys join another state’s bar without sitting for that state’s bar exam. Almost half of U.S. jurisdictions offer some form of it. Typical requirements include several years of active practice (usually three to five), good disciplinary standing everywhere the attorney has been admitted, and often a passing score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. Reciprocity often works on a mutual basis, meaning a state extends the privilege only to attorneys from states that offer the same courtesy in return. Application fees range from a few hundred dollars to over $1,500, and the character and fitness investigation can add months to the timeline.
Uniform Bar Examination score transfer is faster where it applies. Currently, 41 jurisdictions have adopted the UBE, so an attorney who passed it in one UBE state can transfer their score to another without retaking the exam.3National Conference of Bar Examiners. UBE Jurisdictions – Uniform Bar Examination Each state still sets its own minimum passing score and may require additional steps like a jurisdiction-specific law component or character and fitness review. If your attorney took the UBE recently, it’s worth asking whether the score qualifies for transfer.
Because admission on motion can take months, attorneys who need to appear in court quickly often use pro hac vice while the reciprocity application is pending.
Federal Court Works Differently
Federal courts have their own admission systems, separate from state bar membership. An attorney does not need to be licensed in the state where a federal courthouse sits. They need to be admitted to the bar of that specific federal district court. That gives attorneys somewhat more flexibility to practice across state lines on federal matters.
Admission to a federal district court bar typically requires an application, a certificate of good standing from a jurisdiction where the attorney is already admitted, and a fee. The national minimum fee is $199, with most district courts charging between $199 and $250 total.4Federal Judicial Center. Fees for Admission to Federal Court Bars Federal appellate courts require separate applications for each circuit.5Federal Judicial Center. Fees for Admission to Federal Court Bars The process is generally quicker than state bar admission, which is why attorneys who handle federal cases often maintain memberships in multiple federal court bars at once.
Remote Work and Temporary Services
Not every situation where a lawyer crosses state lines requires pro hac vice. A few boundaries worth knowing about, because they affect whether formal admission is even needed.
If an attorney works remotely from a state where they are not licensed but practices only the law of the state where they are licensed, the ABA has concluded that this is not unauthorized practice. Under Formal Opinion 495, the attorney cannot hold themselves out as licensed in the state where they are physically located, cannot take on local matters there, and must clearly list their actual licensing jurisdictions on any website or marketing materials.6American Bar Association. Formal Opinion 495 – Maintaining Compliance with Ethical Rules from Your Couch Individual states may take different positions, so this is guidance rather than a rule everywhere.
ABA Model Rule 5.5 also lets out-of-state attorneys provide certain temporary legal services without pro hac vice admission. Most states have adopted some version of these exceptions:7American Bar Association. Model Rules of Professional Conduct – Rule 5.5 Unauthorized Practice of Law; Multijurisdictional Practice of Law
- Working alongside a locally admitted attorney who actively participates in the matter.
- Handling work reasonably related to a proceeding where the attorney is authorized to appear, or reasonably expects to be.
- Participating in arbitration, mediation, or other dispute resolution that arises from the attorney’s home-jurisdiction practice.
- Doing work in another state that arises out of or is reasonably related to the attorney’s home-state practice.
These exceptions are narrower than they sound. “Temporary” has no bright-line definition, and the work has to connect back to the attorney’s home practice. An attorney who regularly handles matters in a state where they are not licensed, even without setting foot in a courtroom, risks crossing into unauthorized practice.
What to Confirm Before You Hire
The consequences of getting this wrong land on you as well as on the attorney. If your lawyer is found to have practiced without proper authorization, courts can dismiss the case, strike pleadings, void judgments, or hold the attorney in contempt. Work already completed on your behalf can be undone. For the attorney, unauthorized practice carries criminal penalties in most states, ranging from misdemeanor to felony for repeat offenders, plus disciplinary proceedings that can result in suspension or disbarment in the home state as well.
Judges who spot potential unauthorized practice have an ethical obligation to intervene and report it, so the issue rarely stays quiet once it surfaces in court.
Before you sign a retainer with an out-of-state attorney, ask concrete questions:
- Which mechanism will you use to appear in my case: pro hac vice, admission on motion, UBE transfer, or a Rule 5.5 exception?
- Have you already identified local counsel, and what will their role be?
- Has the pro hac vice motion been filed, and if not, when will it be?
- How will fees be split between you and local counsel, and what will I owe each of you?
- Are you familiar with this state’s rules of professional conduct, or will local counsel handle that side?
An attorney who regularly works across state lines will have clear answers. Vague reassurances that they’ll “handle it” are a signal to slow down and get specifics in writing before substantive work begins.