The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is set to hear a case this month challenging its own authority to set rules for the D.C. Bar. At issue is whether mandatory arbitration of attorney-client fee disputes runs afoul of the law.

The case centers on a soured professional relationship between two local solo practitioners. Barbara Walker, an Alexandria, Va., attorney, hired Washington lawyer Pamela Stuart in 2003 to handle a pension benefits claim against Walker’s former employer.