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The Virginia State Bar

Professional Guidelines

Home > Actions on Rule Changes and Legal Ethics Opinions > amendments to Paragraph 3 regarding Judicial class members.

Adopted | amendments to Paragraph 3 regarding Judicial class members. Approved by the Supreme Court of Virginia on January 18, 2023. Effective March 18, 2023.

View the Current Rule

Update 1/18/23: On January 18, 2023, the Supreme Court of Virginia adopted amendments to Part Six, Section IV, Paragraph 3(c) regarding Judicial class members, effective March 18, 2023.

View the Court's order (PDF)

Update 11/15/22:

Proposed revisions to Part 6, Section IV, Paragraph 3(c) were sent to the Supreme Court of Virginia for approval on November 7, 2022. View the petition to the Court. (PDF file)

Update 10/27/22:

At its meeting October 21, 2022, VSB Council unanimously approved amendments to Part 6, Section IV, Paragraph 3(c). The proposed changes will be presented to the Supreme Court of Virginia for approval. The petition will be posted here after it is sent to the Court.

The Virginia State Bar seeks public comment on proposed amendments to Part 6, Section IV, Para. 3(c) of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia defining Judicial class members of the VSB.

The proposed amendments by the VSB Bench Bar Relations Committee are primarily intended to address concerns that the existing rule is both underinclusive — by excluding certain judges, and overinclusive — by including occupations that do not require a law license.

Inspection and Comment

The proposed rule amendments may be inspected below, or at the office of the Virginia State Bar, 1111 East Main Street, Suite 700, Richmond, Virginia 23219-0060, between the hours of 9:00 am and 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday.

Any individual, business, or other entity may submit written comments in support of or in opposition to the proposed opinion with Cameron M. Rountree, interim executive director of the Virginia State Bar, not later than September 16, 2022. Comments may be submitted via email to publiccomment@vsb.org.

View proposed revisions to Paragraph 3(c) (PDF file)

Posted July 22, 2022

Updated: January 18, 2023