By Order dated July 16, 2026, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, acting on a recommendation of the Disciplinary Board, adopted new language to Comment 4 to Rule 5.5 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, clarifying the responsibilities of lawyers who practice remotely in other jurisdictions while physically located in PA.
The comment states the intent of the change: “With the rise of advanced communications technology, and in the advent of the 2020 global pandemic, the legal profession confronted the issue of remote legal practice and the unauthorized practice of law, in the context of Rule 5.5(b)(1).”
First, the comment notes that a lawyer who is not admitted to practice in PA may remotely practice the law of the jurisdictions in which the lawyer is licensed while physically present in PA. The lawyer must not hold themself out as being admitted to practice in PA or provide or offer to provide legal services in PA. Such remote practice is not considered to be “systematic and continuous presence in this jurisdiction” for the purposes of Rule 5.5(b)(1).
Second, a lawyer authorized to practice law in PA may remotely do so while the lawyer is physically outside of PA, provided the lawyer is not prohibited from doing so in the jurisdiction where the lawyer is physically present.
The amendment of this comment is effective immediately.