PART III — ATTORNEYS, PARTIES, AND REPRESENTATION
Rule 18. Right to appear and attorney eligibility
Requirement; self-representation
Administrative Order: 1 RID., Supreme Court of Ridgeway, Tuesday, July 21, 2026, No. 2026-15, In re Establishment of the Bar of the Supreme Court of Ridgeway, governs admission and membership in the Bar of this Court. The Order took effect immediately. A person must be a member of the Bar of this Court to file a paper or appear as an attorney for another person before this Court. This requirement does not touch a party’s right to represent themselves. Anyone may appear pro se, and a defendant’s right to do so is unaffected; membership is required only for a person acting as counsel for someone else.
Membership ex officio
The following officers are members of the Bar of this Court ex officio. Membership attaches on taking office, needs no application, and ends when the officer leaves the office:
the Attorney General of Ridgeway;
the Solicitor General of Ridgeway;
the Chief Public Defender of Ridgeway; and
the Chief of the Appellate Division of the Public Defender’s Office.
An officer who leaves one of these offices and takes another office on this list keeps membership without interruption.
Members pro tempore
The Court grants two memberships pro tempore to Senior Litigators in the Office of the Solicitor General. The Solicitor General designates the two litigators and notifies the Clerk in writing. The Court grants two memberships pro tempore on the same terms to Senior Litigators in the Appellate Division of the Public Defender’s Office, designated by the Chief of that Division. A membership pro tempore lasts only while the litigator holds the position that supports it. It ends the moment the litigator leaves the position, whether or not the designating officer files anything. The designating officer must tell the Clerk promptly when a designation ends and may name a replacement to fill the seat.
Bona fide appointment required
A membership under subdivisions (b) or (c) rests on real service in the office that carries it. No appointment, transfer, promotion, secondment, or designation confers membership if it was made mainly to get someone admitted to this Bar. This applies to movement within the Department of Justice, within the Public Defender’s Office, and between the two. The Court may look into any appointment or designation on its own motion. If the Court finds that the position was created, filled, or reassigned mainly to qualify a person for membership, the Court will strike the person from the roll and may decline to count the period of service toward any later application. A person struck under this subdivision may not be designated again without the Court’s leave. An officer who designates a member pro tempore certifies by that designation that the litigator holds the position in fact, carries its duties, and was not placed in it to obtain admission here.
Retired Justices
A Justice of the Supreme Court of Ridgeway becomes a member of this Bar ipso jure at the end of the Justice’s abeyance term. No application is required, and the membership does not lapse with time.
Admission on application
Admission on application rests with the Court and is granted at its pleasure. Meeting the minimum requirements in this subdivision raises no presumption of fitness and creates no right to admission. The Court may grant a petition, deny it, defer it, require an interview, hearing, or further documents, attach conditions, or take any other course it sees fit, and may deny a petition without prejudice and without reasons. An applicant must show:
one year of practice within the State of Ridgeway, which the Court may waive for an applicant who previously held an office listed in subdivision (b);
good standing with the Ridgeway State Bar, shown by a certificate from the State Bar dated within thirty days of the petition;
a recommendation from a sitting Judge of the Superior Court of Ridgeway who has had a fair chance to observe the applicant’s work;
two writing samples, sent to the Clerk of the Superior Court, each the applicant’s own work, drawn from a matter actually filed, and identified by case; and
a written disclosure of any discipline, suspension, disbarment, or pending complaint against the applicant in any jurisdiction, and of any earlier denial of admission to this Bar.
An applicant who is granted admission is admitted on swearing or affirming, before the Court or before an officer the Court names, to uphold the Constitution and laws of Ridgeway, to deal honestly with this Court, and to discharge the duties owed to clients and to the Court. Admission takes effect when the Clerk enters the name on the roll.
The roll
The Clerk keeps the roll of the Bar of this Court, showing for each member the basis of admission, the date it began, and, for members ex officio and pro tempore, the office or position that supports it. The Clerk updates the roll as officers take and leave office and as designations are made and withdrawn. A person whose membership has ended may not file or appear as counsel, and the Clerk will refuse a paper tendered by someone not on the roll.
Discipline
Members of this Bar are subject to the discipline of this Court. The Court may suspend or strike a member for professional misconduct, for misrepresentation to the Court, for violating this Rule or Administrative Order 1, or for any other cause that would justify discipline. Losing membership here does not by itself affect a person’s standing in the Ridgeway State Bar, and losing standing in the Ridgeway State Bar ends membership here at once.