In re Suspension of Attorneys, 2017 Ark. 150

The Arkansas Supreme Court announced that the final deadline to pay the 2017 annual attorney-license fee was April 17, 2017 (deadline moved from April 15 because April 15 was a weekend).
Rule VII(C) of the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar creates an automatic suspension for attorneys who fail to pay the annual license fee by the final deadline after three pre-suspension notices.
A group of attorneys (168 in total) failed to pay the 2017 fee by the extended deadline despite repeated notice.
By operation of Rule VII(C), those attorneys were automatically suspended on April 18, 2017, and were prohibited from practicing law in Arkansas until reinstated.
The opinion directs that suspensions remain in effect until reinstatement or during a stay of suspension as provided by Rule VII(C)(15).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether failure to pay annual license fee results in suspension	Bar: nonpayment after notices triggers automatic suspension under Rule VII(C)	Named attorneys: (not litigating here) may contend procedural or notice issues	Court: Automatic suspension effective April 18, 2017, under Rule VII(C)
Whether provided notices were sufficient	Bar: three pre-suspension notices were provided as required	Attorneys: (no record of successful challenge)	Court: Notices were adequate per Rule VII(C) framework
Effective date of suspension	Bar: suspension operates the day after the deadline	Attorneys: may argue different timing if deadline ambiguous	Court: suspension occurred April 18, 2017 (day after extended deadline)
Conditions for resuming practice	Bar: attorneys may be reinstated or obtain a stay per Rule VII(C)(15)	Attorneys: must follow reinstatement/stay procedures	Court: practice prohibited until reinstatement or a stay under Rule VII(C)(15)