Standards for Admission To Practice in the Federal Courts

Since GAO is involved in only a limited number of trials in which attorneys are required to appear in court, GAO believes that it should be exempted from proposed rules setting minimum requirements for trial experience. The proposed Rule 1 would require an attorney to have at least four trial experiences before appearing alone before a Federal District Court and would require all applicants to be tested on subjects related to Federal practice. Unlike most Government agencies, GAO has authority to represent itself. GAO attorneys are hired for their knowledge of specialized areas of the law rather than for trial experience.