While going to law school in Chicago, many of us were envious of kids that graduated from Wisconsin law schools who were not required to take a state bar. It now turns out that we may have been victims of an unconstitutional discrimination against outside law schools. In an interesting opinion written by Judge Richard Posner of the United States Supreme Court, the Wisconsin rule was found to be a violation of the commerce clause.
The Wisconsin in-state privilege means that anyone graduating from a non-Wisconsin law school must take the state bar. Graduates of the Oklahoma City University School of Law filed a class action to challenge the rule — naming the Wisconsin Board of Bar Examiners and the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
The lawsuit was dismissed in 2007 by U.S. District Judge John C. Shabaz because even Wisconsin residents must take the bar if they go to an outside law school. Posner, however, said not so fast. The panel sent the case back down to the district as prematurely dismissed.
Posner wants to allow the plaintiffs to try to prove their case, including their argument that there is precious little difference between the curriculum of the state’s two law schools (Wisconsin and Marquette) and non-Wisconsin law schools.
For the full opinion, click here.
For the story, click here.
Mespo,
I didn’t make it to the “Taste” this year. How was it?
Being I was stating what I said by memory I thought this was interesting after I ponder it all day.
Can I become an attorney without going to law school in California?
Yes. You can meet California’s legal education requirements by spending at least four years studying law under the personal supervision of a California judge of record or a California attorney in his or her law office. (The attorney must be an active member of the State Bar of California who has been in practice for the last five years or longer.) For more detailed information, visit the State Bar’s Web site at http://www.calbar.ca.gov and click on Admissions.
Some other states with non ABA law schools are Massachusetts , Georgia Tennessee and Alabama in which you can sit for the bar exam.
Actually any state can have non ABA schools, but the real reason there are not more is that not every state will permit graduates of such schools to take their bar examination. And, reason for this is most states recognize the standard of excellence associated with law schools operating under the “ABA Approved” banner.
rafflaw:
How’ve you been? I was wondering earlier if you took in the “Taste of Chicago”?
Mespo,
I am with you on this one. I always wondered why the Marquette people didn’t have to take a bar exam, but I had to in Illinois. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this case.
“If memory serves me correctly, California is a state that allows this. Hey, wait, if I can remember how to drive then I guess I have not yet started the winemaking class. So I might be correct.”
Or, perhaps you, not only started, but finished the winemaking class…consumed the results…and just think you remember how to drive.
“”Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” -Albert Einstein
Take the context of torture, illegal wiretaps, and the unitary executive as a framework …
Isn’t the subject matter of this post a moot point unless one can show that ABA approved law schools produce those who will never take the law off the table?
Or unless one can prove that those who practice without graduating from an ABA approved law school are the ones who take the law off the table?
Note that those who wrote the memos approving torture were of the upper echelon of ABA approved law schools, not the other way around.
It comes down to a “more times than not” argument, which is not principled in nature, it is instead pragmatic in nature.
http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/07/your-cheating-heart-will-tell-on-you.html
Jim Byrne 1, July 14, 2009 at 10:03 am
AY said “The Legal profession has mostly been run by the Bar and the State. If this is allowed to happen then pity the student that go to a non accredited ABA school. They can still sit down and take the bar, but they cannot practice outside the state in which they go to school.”
I was under the impression that most states won’t permit one to take the Bar Exam if they had not graduated from an ABA accredited law school.
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If memory serves me correctly, California is a state that allows this. Hey, wait, if I can remember how to drive then I guess I have not yet started the winemaking class. So I might be correct.
AY said “The Legal profession has mostly been run by the Bar and the State. If this is allowed to happen then pity the student that go to a non accredited ABA school. They can still sit down and take the bar, but they cannot practice outside the state in which they go to school.”
I was under the impression that most states won’t permit one to take the Bar Exam if they had not graduated from an ABA accredited law school.
I don’t like integrated bar associations. (not that the bar exam and bar associations are directly connected) -As most integrated bars are controlled by the state’s highest court, I think that interferes with the checks and balances should those members serve in the Legislative or Executive branch.
Mespo,
I think this can sum up some of the people bout education.
Homer: How is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?
I truly wouldn’t want to be represented in Wisconsin by an in-state law school graduate who hadn’t taken some bar, somewhere. Call me old school. Like Judge Posner I suspect there is little difference in the curricula among law schools, and this has more to do with “homer-ism” than anything else.
Ah but this is one of the Privilege and Immunity Clauses that affect a states residents only. The 4th and 10th Amendments are to Apply to the Federal Government alone but it has been crammed down to apply to the states, via the 14th Amendment Sec 5.
I cannot see why this is an issue. It is promoting WI law schools and the rewards for going to the schools. I may not like it and I did not benefit from it but I am not bitching about it either.
The Legal profession has mostly been run by the Bar and the State. If this is allowed to happen then pity the student that go to a non accredited ABA school. They can still sit down and take the bar, but they cannot practice outside the state in which they go to school.
The implications are extraordinary if this is overturned.
“Judge Richard Posner of the United States Supreme Court” … that would stop all this haggling over Sotomayer perhaps?
Alaska had some similar issues (treating residents differently than non-residents without justification) and finally lost in the U.S. Supreme Court.