Rule 15-103. Confidentiality.

A. Board records and examination records confidential. All records of the board and its committees regarding applications it receives and investigations, interviews, and hearings it conducts, and all proceedings by the board, including board meetings, committee meetings, minutes, and communications among examiners and committee members about an application, shall not be considered part of the applicant’s file and shall be confidential except as provided by these rules or by order of the Supreme Court. NCBE examination information and materials shall be confidential unless authorized for release by the NCBE. The Supreme Court may request and review the board’s records for any applicant without affecting the confidential status of that record. B. Filings with the Supreme Court not confidential. Motions and petitions filed by the board with the Supreme Court about an application are not confidential. However, the board’s submission to the Supreme Court of lists of applicants who have passed and failed the examination of the minimum competence to practice law shall be confidential until the Supreme Court makes some or all of the list public, but those portions of the list not made public shall remain confidential. C. Release of records to NCBE and agencies. The board may release records of any applicant to the NCBE to any state’s agency involved in the licensing and discipline of lawyers and the University of New Mexico School of Law. The board shall not be responsible for the confidentiality of records so released. D. Application copy. An applicant may request a copy of that applicant’s application and any records submitted by the applicant to the board by delivering a written request to the board along with payment of fees for preparing the copy. An applicant’s request for a copy may designate a third party to receive the copy in lieu of the applicant. The board may prescribe a form for making requests for copies and a table of fees for the preparation and delivery of copies. E. Written waiver of confidentiality. An applicant may waive confidentiality of that applicant’s application by written authorization. The board may prescribe a form required to be used for a waiver of confidentiality. An applicant’s waiver of confidentiality under this Paragraph or Paragraph F shall not affect the confidential nature of documents identified in Paragraph A. F. Waiver of confidentiality on filing of proceedings. If an applicant files proceedings in any court which concerns that applicant’s application, the proceedings of the board or Supreme Court about the applicant, or the board’s recommendation or petition to the Supreme Court, then that applicant shall be deemed to have waived the confidentiality of the board’s file about that applicant. Proceedings before, and papers and records filed with, the Supreme Court are not confidential except as required by law, as set forth in these rules, or as may be ordered by the Supreme Court. G. Sealing. The Supreme Court on its own motion, or on motion of the applicant or the board, may seal all or part of the proceedings initiated by a petition, and a record on appeal, including filings and transcripts. Any motion to seal filed by the applicant or the board shall be made under Rule 12-314 NMRA, and shall specify the portions of the record or filings for which sealing is sought.