Rule 136, applicable to attorney’s-fee disputes in matrimonial cases, has been in operation for a number of years now. It requires the lawyer to submit the dispute to arbitration if the client opts for it. On Jan. 1, 2002, Rule 137 took effect, extending this requirement to all categories of cases: contract, commercial, tort, property, estates’ practice, etc.
Rule 137 was originally scheduled to go into effect on June 1, 2001, but was put off until Jan. 1, 2002, to give lawyers and others an opportunity to comment on the proposal. Comments were many, and the original version of Rule 137 was altered to reflect them. Apprehensions that even the Jan. 1 postponed date offered inadequate time to prepare for the new rule were considered, but the date was stuck to, and for a reason that will come as a relief to the whole bar: Rule 137 applies only to attorney/client relationships that commence after Jan. 1.[1]� (In matrimonial cases, too, Rule 136 is replaced by Rule 137, except as to fee disputes arising out of attorney-client relationships formed before Jan. 1, 2002, which will continue to be governed by Rule 136.)
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