Tribal Government of Menominee Indian Tribe of WI Counselors and Professional Attorneys

§ 120-24 Lay counsel.

Any person appearing as a party in any judicial proceeding before a Court of the Menominee Indian Tribe shall have the right to be represented by a lay counselor (defined as an advisor who is not a professional attorney) and to have such person assist in the preparation and presentation of his case.

Any person appearing as a lay counselor shall be subject to the same ethical obligations of honesty and confidentiality toward his client as would be a professional attorney, and the attorney-client testimonial privilege shall apply in the circumstances in which it would be applicable to a professional attorney.

Lay counselors shall be deemed officers of the Court for purposes of their representation of a party and shall be subject to the disciplinary authority of the Court in all matters related to their representative capacity.

§ 120-25 Right to be represented by professional counsel.

Any party to a civil or criminal action shall have the right to be represented by a professional attorney of his own choice and at his own expense under Rules for Admission to the Menominee Tribal Bar as the Supreme Court shall prescribe, provided that the Menominee Indian Tribe shall have no obligation to provide or to pay for such an attorney. The Supreme Court may establish an appropriate fee and appropriate qualifications for admission to the Menominee Tribal Bar.

Notwithstanding the above, any defendant in a criminal action shall have the right to be represented by a professional attorney and at his own expense, provided that the attorney is a member of the Bar of the State of Wisconsin or of the Bar of any other state or of the District of Columbia. Attorneys so representing criminal defendants shall be deemed admitted to the Menominee Tribal Bar pro hoc vice (solely for the purpose of that case). The Menominee Indian Tribe shall have no obligation to provide or to pay for such an attorney.

The Supreme Court may further provide in its discretion for the admission of attorneys to the Menominee Tribal Bar pro hoc vice in civil cases and may establish an appropriate fee for such admission.

§ 120-26 Standards of conduct and obligations for attorneys and lay counsel.

Every attorney admitted to practice before the Courts of the Menominee Indian Tribe, and every lay counsel employed or appointed to represent another before such Courts when acting in such capacity or in matters in any way related thereto, shall conform his conduct in every respect to the requirements and suggested behavior of the Code of Professional Responsibility as adopted by the American Bar Association.

Both professional attorneys and lay counselors who hold themselves out as being available to act as such have a moral responsibility to accept as clients and represent without compensation or without full compensation such persons as a Judge of a Tribal Court may feel have a particularly urgent need for such representation but are personally unable to afford or pay for such legal help.