Rule 207.General, Special, or Limited Pro Bono Appearance

Rule 207 governs what counts as showing up.

General appearance

The voluntary appearance of a party, or service of any pleading by the party, constitutes voluntary submission to the personal jurisdiction of the court — except as section (b) provides.

Five things that are not an appearance

• a motion under Rule 206(b)(2), (4) or (5) — personal jurisdiction, process, service — whether raised before or after judgment; a motion under Rule 110; or a motion for an extension of time to respond or appear;
• joining other defenses in such a motion;
• after filing such a motion, responding to discovery or to another party's motion;
• after such a motion is denied, pleading further and defending the action; and
• filing a document titled "special appearance" that seeks no relief and merely gives notice of intent to contest personal jurisdiction — provided the party files the Rule 206 motion within 14 days, or such later time as the court permits.

Taken together these are generous: a party contesting jurisdiction may join other defenses, take part in discovery, and defend on the merits after losing the point, all without conceding it. The one condition is on the standalone special appearance, which expires unless the motion follows within 14 days.

Note the interaction with Rule 206(h)(1). That rule waives these defenses if any other motion is filed first; this rule confirms that the permitted motions — extension of time, Rule 110 substitution — are not appearances. The two must be read together, and the safest course is to raise jurisdiction first.

Limited pro bono appearance

Under Idaho Rule of Professional Conduct 1.2(c), an attorney may appear to give pro bono assistance to an otherwise self-represented litigant by filing and serving a notice of limited appearance specifying all matters undertaken.

The limits run both ways: the attorney acts only on the specified matters, and service on the attorney is valid only for those proceedings. At the conclusion the attorney files a notice of completion, which ends the appearance without leave of the court — so Rule 111's withdrawal machinery does not apply.