The Supreme Court of South Carolina
In re: Amendment to Rule 401,
South Carolina Appellate Court Rules
ORDER
Pursuant to Rule 401, South Carolina Appellate Court Rules, students at the University of South Carolina School of Law and the Charleston School of Law may represent and assist indigent defendants and State agencies under the supervision of the Clinical Legal Education programs at each respective school.
The South Carolina Commission on Alternative Dispute Resolution has proposed amending Rule 401 to allow eligible law students to serve as mediators in certain matters. The proposed amendment permits an eligible law student to mediate a dispute under the supervision of an on-site attorney who is licensed to practice law in South Carolina and holds a current certification in mediation from the Board of Arbitrator and Mediator Certification. The student must also complete a forty-hour mediation training program approved by the Board of Arbitrator and Mediator Certification in order to be eligible to participate in a mediation program.
Pursuant to Article V, § 4, of the South Carolina Constitution, we hereby amend Rule 401, South Carolina Appellate Court Rules, as set forth in the attachment to this Order.
The amendments are effective immediately.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/Jean H. Toal C.J. s/John H. Waller, Jr. J. s/Costa M. Pleicones J. s/Donald W. Beatty J. s/John W. Kittredge J. |
Columbia, South Carolina
October 10, 2008
RULE 401
STUDENT PRACTICE RULE
. . .
(c) An eligible law student may engage in other activities, under a lawyer’s general supervision, but outside the lawyer’s presence, including:
(1) preparation of the pleadings, briefs and other legal documents to be approved and signed by the supervising lawyer;
(2) assisting indigent inmates of correctional institutions in preparing applications and supporting documents for post-conviction relief. If there is an attorney of record in the matter, all such assistance must be supervised by that attorney and all documents submitted to the court on behalf of the inmate must be signed by the attorney. Solicitation of representation of indigent inmates shall be a violation of this Rule;
(3) mediate a dispute in a court annexed mediation program; provided the eligible law student has successfully completed a 40 hour mediation training program approved by the Board of Arbitrator and Mediator Certification of the Supreme Court’s Commission on Alternative Dispute Resolution, and provided the eligible law student is supervised on-site by an attorney who is licensed to practice law in South Carolina and holds a current certification in mediation from the Board of Arbitrator and Mediator Certification.
. . . .