HB 338 - AS INTRODUCED
2003 SESSION
10/09
HOUSE BILL 338
AN ACT requiring the suspension of attorneys who do not abide by a client's decision whether to accept an offer of settlement.
SPONSORS: Rep. Gilman, Graf 9; Rep. Buhlman, Hills 66; Rep. Sorg, Graf 11
This bill requires attorneys to abide by a client's decision whether to accept an offer of settlement. An attorney shall be suspended from practice for second or subsequent violations of this requirement.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03-0200
10/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three
AN ACT requiring the suspension of attorneys who do not abide by a client's decision whether to accept an offer of settlement.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Regulation of Practice of Law; Client's Decision Whether to Accept an Offer of Settlement. Amend RSA 311 by inserting after section 8 the following new section:
311:8-a Client's Decision Whether to Accept an Offer of Settlement. An attorney shall abide by a client's decision whether to accept an offer of settlement of a matter. Actions for violations of this section may be filed in the superior court. An attorney shall be fined $1000 for a first offense, and shall be suspended from practice for a period of 6 months for a second or subsequent offense. Copies of all complaints filed and all orders issued pursuant to this section shall be forwarded by the superior court to the supreme court.
2 Regulation of Practice of Law; Effect of Suspension; Reference Added. Amend RSA 311:10 to read as follows:
311:10 Effect of Suspension[, etc]. No person while suspended from practice pursuant to RSA 311:8 or RSA 311:8-a, or until the person's restoration to office, shall be permitted to practice as an attorney before any court or magistrate, or elsewhere; and any writ or other process made by such person for another, while thus disqualified, shall be void.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2004.