Diploma privilege

Last updated

In the United States, the diploma privilege is a method for lawyers to be admitted to the bar (i.e. authorized to practice law) without taking a bar examination. Wisconsin is the only jurisdiction that currently allows diploma privilege as an alternative to the bar examination.

Contents

In 25 states, attorneys who were initially admitted to practice by another state's diploma privilege are eligible for admission to the state bar on motion of the admission committee. [1]

History

Diploma privilege arose as a method for admission to the bar along with the rise of law schools in the United States. Prior to the 1870s, most aspiring lawyers trained through apprenticeships under a lawyer or a judge, a practice called "reading law". [2] [3] In the 1870s, law schools began to emerge across the country as an alternative form of legal education. To incentivize aspiring lawyers to attend law schools, many states offered "diploma privilege" to graduates of law schools, wherein they would receive automatic admission to the bar. This practice reached its peak between 1879 and 1917. [4]

The practice of diploma privilege declined in favor of formal, written bar examinations from the late 1910s onward. [3] The privilege was abolished in California in 1917. In 1921, the American Bar Association formally expressed opposition to diploma privilege. By 1948, only 9 states maintained diploma privilege. [4] The most recent states to abolish diploma privilege and require law school graduates to sit for a bar examination were Mississippi in 1981, Montana and South Dakota in 1983, and West Virginia in 1988.[ citation needed ]

As of 2020, Wisconsin is the only state that allows graduates of in-state law schools to gain admission to the bar through diploma privilege rather than a bar examination. New Hampshire does not have diploma privilege, but its only law school has an alternative licensing program called the Daniel Webster Honors Program that allows a limited number of students who have completed certain curricula and a separate exam to bypass the regular bar exam. [5] Iowa considered reinstating diploma privilege in 2014. [6]

Diploma privilege in Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, J.D. graduates of the two American Bar Association-accredited law schools in the state, Marquette University Law School and the University of Wisconsin Law School, may seek admission to the State Bar of Wisconsin without having to sit for a bar examination. LLM and SJD graduates of these law schools are not eligible for diploma privilege.

The diploma privilege in Wisconsin dates to 1870, when it was passed by the Wisconsin State Legislature in the same legislation that established the University of Wisconsin Law School. At that time a law department was established in the State University and a course of study under able instructors was prescribed for students in the law department. The 1870 law provided that graduates of this department should be entitled to admission to the bar upon their certificate of graduation—that is, their law degree. It was offered to encourage future lawyers to get a formal legal education instead of simply "reading law," which was the typical legal training of the time. [7]

Graduates of out-of-state law schools, even if they are Wisconsin residents, must still take the Wisconsin bar exam to be admitted in Wisconsin. Likewise, graduates of Wisconsin law schools must take the bar exam in many other states in which they are going to practice. A number of U.S. states do not grant reciprocal admission for attorneys who obtained their bar admission through the diploma privilege, requiring those attorneys to take that state's bar exam, regardless of the length of that attorney's practice. The policy reasoning behind diploma privilege is to incentivize Wisconsin residents to attend in-state law schools and to keep Wisconsin residents working in-state. Another policy consideration is preventing "brain drain" in Wisconsin. This theory holds that without the diploma privilege, the smartest from the state will leave Wisconsin for their education or for their career, specifically to nearby Chicago (the Iowa Bar Association cited similar territorial concerns [6] [8] ). Another advantage is that state of Wisconsin subsidizes in-state resident tuition for law students, and therefore incentivizes them to stay to retain the state's educational investment. It is also claimed that the diploma privilege helps keep youth in Wisconsin.[ citation needed ]

In Wiesmueller v. Kosobucki, a class action lawsuit certified in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in June 2008, the petitioners asserted that the state's policy discriminates against interstate commerce in violation of the Commerce Clause because it affords a diploma privilege in lieu of a bar examination only to lawyers graduating from Wisconsin's law schools. The suit sought injunctive relief to expand the privilege to all applicants to the Wisconsin Bar who obtain a J.D. from any law school accredited by the American Bar Association. [9] The district court subsequently dismissed the case for failure to state a cause of action. On July 9, 2009, the Seventh Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal of the case, saying "we find ourselves in an evidentiary vacuum created by the early termination of the case," and remanded the case to the district court. [10]

Diploma privilege during the COVID-19 pandemic

There has been a renewed interest in diploma privilege as an alternative to the bar examination, which is generally administered in large conference rooms and auditoriums every July and February, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 22, 2020, several legal scholars who study licensure identified "emergency diploma privilege" as an alternative that showed "considerable promise" in a working paper discussing how states may continue to license new lawyers during the COVID-19 pandemic. [11] The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), which writes the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), came out in opposition of diploma privilege in a white paper in which it argued that bar exams ensure lawyer competency. [12] Several legal news outlets criticized the NCBE's position, noting that the NCBE has a conflict of interest as the developer of the UBE and that the NCBE's President and CEO, Judith Gundersen, is a recipient of diploma privilege herself. [13] [14] A number of petitions for emergency diploma privilege by law school deans, professors, and recent graduates in other states have grown. [15] [16] Organizations like United for Diploma Privilege have hosted webinars and organized recent graduates to circulate similar petitions in over 30 states. [17] [18]

On March 27, New York became the first state to announce the postponement of its July 2020 bar examination as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. [19] Several states and territories followed suit by postponing their exams to August, September, or October, while others have looked for alternative options to an in-person examination, including remote examinations or offering diploma privilege to qualified individuals. 39 jurisdictions postponed or canceled their July bar examinations, with postponed exams taking place in September, October, or other dates. [20] 25 jurisdictions are offered remotely-administered examinations. [20] [21]

On April 21, Utah became the first state to grant temporary, emergency diploma privilege during the COVID-19 pandemic. [22] Since then, Washington, Oregon, Louisiana, and the District of Columbia have all instituted temporary diploma privilege policies, as detailed in the table below. However, some Washington legal employers have told recent graduates that they will not recognize diploma privilege and want them to sit for the test regardless. [23] In the District of Columbia, candidates who choose the diploma privilege option rather than taking the bar examination must be supervised for three years by a qualified attorney admitted to the D.C. bar. [24] On July 6, New York State Senator Brad Hoylman introduced legislation to provide 2020 graduates with diploma privilege. [25]

Temporary provision of diploma privilege during the COVID-19 pandemic
JurisdictionDate announcedEligibility requirementsResponsible authority
UtahApril 21, 2020
  • Registered for the July 2020 bar exam.
  • Graduated from an ABA-accredited law school with a first-time bar passage rate at or above 86%.
 Utah Supreme Court [22]
Washington [lower-alpha 1] June 12, 2020
  • Registered for the July 2020 bar exam (which had been postponed to September).
  • Graduated from an ABA-accredited law school.
 Washington Supreme Court [26]
OregonJune 29, 2020
  • Registered for the July 2020 bar exam.
  • Graduated from an ABA-accredited law school with a first-time bar passage rate at or above 86%.
 Oregon Supreme Court [27]
LouisianaJuly 22, 2020
  • Registered for the July or October 2020 bar exams.
  • Graduated from an ABA-accredited law school.
  • Have not previously sat for any other bar exam in another state.
  • By the end of 2021, must complete 25 hours of continuing legal education and a mentoring program.
 Louisiana Supreme Court [28]
District of Columbia [lower-alpha 2] September 24, 2020
  • Registered for the 2020 or 2021 bar exams.
  • Graduated from an ABA-accredited law school in 2019 or 2020.
  • Have not previously sat for any bar exam or had a bar application denied.
  • Passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam.
  • Will be directly supervised while practicing for the next three years by a qualified attorney.
 District of Columbia Court of Appeals [24]

Notes

  1. ↑ Option offered between diploma privilege and in-person September examination.
  2. ↑ Option offered between diploma privilege and online October examination.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juris Doctor</span> Graduate-entry professional degree in law

A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree in law. The JD is the standard degree obtained to practice law in the United States, where there is no undergraduate professional law degree. Some jurisdictions, such as Australia, Canada and Hong Kong, offer both the JD and undergraduate qualifying law degrees.

An attorney at law in the United States is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in court on the retainer of clients. As of January 1, 2023, there were 1,331,290 active lawyers in the United States. In terms of absolute numbers, the American legal profession was the largest in the world as of 2015, and it is thought to be the largest in the world in proportion to domestic population. A 2012 survey conducted by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell determined 58 million consumers in the U.S. sought an attorney in the last year and that 76 percent of consumers used the Internet to search for an attorney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal education</span> Education in topics related to law

Legal education is the education of individuals in the principles, practices, and theory of law. It may be undertaken for several reasons, including to provide the knowledge and skills necessary for admission to legal practice in a particular jurisdiction, to provide a greater breadth of knowledge to those working in other professions such as politics or business, to provide current lawyers with advanced training or greater specialisation, or to update lawyers on recent developments in the law.

The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to the bar". "The bar" is now used as a collective noun for barristers, but literally referred to the wooden barrier in old courtrooms, which separated the often crowded public area at the rear from the space near the judges reserved for those having business with the court. Barristers would sit or stand immediately behind it, facing the judge, and could use it as a table for their briefs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Admission to the bar in the United States</span> Registration to practice law in a US jurisdiction

Admission to the bar in the United States is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in the jurisdiction. Each U.S. state and jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules and standards for bar admission. In most cases, a person is admitted or called to the bar of the highest court in the jurisdiction and is thereby authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction. Federal courts, although often overlapping in admission standards with states, set their own requirements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bar (law)</span> Legal profession as an institution

In law, the bar is the legal profession as an institution. The term is a metonym for the line that separates the parts of a courtroom reserved for spectators and those reserved for participants in a trial such as lawyers.

A Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subjects and jurisprudence to provide a comprehensive understanding of the legal system and its function. The LLB curriculum is designed to impart a thorough knowledge of legal principles, legal research skills, and a sound understanding of the roles and responsibilities of lawyers within society. This degree is often a prerequisite for taking bar exams or qualifying as a practicing lawyer, depending on the jurisdiction. Additionally, the LLB program also serves as a foundation for further legal education, such as a Master of Laws (LLM) or other postgraduate studies in law.

A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">State Bar of California</span> Californias official attorney licensing agency

The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate discipline, accepting attorney-member fees, and financially distributing sums paid through attorney trust accounts to fund nonprofit legal entities. It is directly responsible to the Supreme Court of California; however, its Trustees are now appointed by the Supreme Court, the California Legislature, and Governor of California. All attorney admissions are issued as recommendations of the State Bar, which are then routinely ratified by the Supreme Court. Attorney discipline is handled by the State Bar Office of Chief Trial Counsel, which acts as prosecutor before the State Bar Court of California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law school</span> Institution specializing in legal education

A law school is an institution or professional school specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a judge, lawyer, or other legal professional within a given jurisdiction.

A correspondence law school is a school that offers legal education by distance education, either by correspondence or online by use of the internet, or a combination thereof.

An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are distinct practising certificates.

The performance test or "PT" is a section of bar examinations in the United States that is intended to mimic a real-life legal task that future lawyers may face. Of the three parts of most states' bar exams -- MBE, essay, and performance test—the performance test is supposed to be the most reflective of how well a candidate will perform outside of an academic setting.

Purdue Global Law School, is an online law school based in Los Angeles, California. It is one of several schools within Purdue University Global. Established in 1998, Purdue Global Law was the United States' first fully online law school. The school is accredited by the State Bar of California, but it is not accredited by the American Bar Association.

Widener University Delaware Law School is a private law school in Wilmington, Delaware. It is one of two separate ABA-accredited law schools of Widener University. Widener University Law School was founded in 1971 as the Delaware Law School and became affiliated with Widener in 1975. In 1989, it was known as Widener University School of Law when it was combined with the campus in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 2015, the two campuses separated, with the Harrisburg one renamed to Widener University Commonwealth Law School.

In the law of the United States, admission on motion refers to a procedure by which an attorney admitted to practice in one state or territory may obtain admission to practice in another state or territory without having to sit for the other jurisdiction's bar examination. Therefore, attorneys seeking admission on motion can be admitted to a jurisdiction without having to undergo any additional testing, except where the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination ("MPRE") is required. Instead, applicants simply file a motion or application with the state supreme court, board of bar examiners, or state bar association of the other jurisdiction, which typically must be accompanied by certificates of good standing from all other jurisdictions in which they are admitted and sufficient personal information to facilitate a background check of good moral character.

Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the tutelage or mentoring of an experienced lawyer. The practice largely died out in the early 20th century. A few U.S. states still permit people to become lawyers by reading law instead of attending law school, although the practice is rare.

Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS) is a series of two examinations for the license to practice as a solicitor in England and Wales designed for foreign-licensed lawyers. The QLTS supplanted the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT) on 1 September 2010. The QLTS assessment was designed to increase the number of recognised foreign jurisdictions for the examinations. These changes have opened up the English legal market to qualified lawyers from places as diverse as Korea, Japan and Russia.

The Atlanta Law School was a private, night law school for working professionals and others seeking a legal education. The school's faculty members were practicing lawyers and judges from across the state of Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bar examination in the United States</span> Exam to become a lawyer

In the United States, those seeking to become lawyers must normally pass a bar examination before they can be admitted to the bar and become licensed to practice law. Bar exams are administered by states or territories, generally by agencies under the authority of state supreme courts. Almost all states use some examination components created by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE). Forty-one jurisdictions have adopted the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE), which is composed entirely of NCBE-created components.

References

  1. ↑ National Conference of Bar Examiners; American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar (2008). "Reciprocity, Comity, and Attorneys Exams" (PDF). Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements 2008 (Chart). National Conference of Bar Examiners. p. 28. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2008.
  2. ↑ Goforth, Carol (February 18, 2015). "Why the Bar Examination Fails to Raise the Bar". Ohio Northern University Law Review. 42 (1): 47–88. Archived from the original on July 21, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Goldman, Thomas (January 1, 1974). "Use of the Diploma Privilege in the United States". Tulsa Law Review. 10 (1): 36. Archived from the original on July 21, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  4. 1 2 Hansen, Daniel (January 1, 1995). "Do We Need the Bar Examination—A Critical Evaluation of the Justifications for the Bar Examination and Proposed Alternatives?". Case Western Reserve Law Review. 45 (4): 1191–1235. ISSN   0008-7262. Archived from the original on July 21, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program". University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law. September 10, 2018. Archived from the original on July 22, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  6. 1 2 Hylton, J. Gordon (January 21, 2014). "Iowa Supreme Court Contemplating Diploma Privilege". Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog. Archived from the original on July 22, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  7. ↑ Levine, Steven (December 2002). "End Separate-but-Equal Bar Admission". Wisconsin Lawyer. 75 (12). Archived from the original on November 19, 2005.
  8. ↑ Newman, John (August 26, 2014). "Fairer Ways to Stop the Lawyer Brain Drain". Des Moines Register. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  9. ↑ Wiesmueller v. Kosobucki,WL2415459(W.D. Wis.2008).
  10. ↑ Wiesmueller v. Kosobucki(7th Cir.), Text .
  11. ↑ Angelos, Claudia; Berman, Sara; Bilek, Mary Lu; Chomsky, Carol L.; Curcio, Andrea Anne; Griggs, Marsha; Howarth, Joan W.; Kaufman, Eileen R.; Merritt, Deboarh Jones; Salkin, Patricia E.; Wegner, Judith W. (March 22, 2020). "The Bar Exam and the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Need for Immediate Action" (PDF). Ohio State Public Law Working Paper No. 537 (2020) UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3559060. S2CID   216316636 . Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  12. ↑ National Conference of Bar Examiners (April 9, 2020). "Bar Admissions During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evaluating Options for the Class of 2020". National Conference of Bar Examiners. Archived from the original on June 24, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  13. ↑ Sloan, Karen (April 13, 2020). "Ditching the Bar Exam Puts Public at Risk, Says Test Maker". Law.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020. It's not surprising that the NCBE is against eliminating the test for admission. Developing the exam is the core function of the organization, which has nearly 100 employees and reported $26.6 million in revenue in 2018, according to tax filings.
  14. ↑ Patrice, Joe (April 15, 2020). "The Nation's Top Defender of the Bar Exam Knows Exactly How to Value Diploma Privilege Systems". Above the Law. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  15. ↑ Skolnik, Sam (June 30, 2020). "States Pressured to Waive Bar Exam for New Lawyers in Pandemic". Bloomberg Law. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  16. ↑ Sloan, Karen (June 30, 2020). "National Momentum Builds for Diploma Privilege as Oregon Makes Bar Exam Optional". Law.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Washington Graduates to Host Webinar on How They Won Diploma Privilege". United for Diploma Privilege. June 22, 2020. Archived from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  18. ↑ Stone, Rachel (July 8, 2020). "Push for Diploma Privilege Unites Law Grads Nationwide". Law360. Archived from the original on July 9, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  19. ↑ Sloan, Karen (March 27, 2020). "New York Postpones July Bar Exam amid COVID-19 Pandemic". Law.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  20. 1 2 "July 2020 Bar Exam Status by Jurisdiction". National Conference of Bar Examiners. Archived from the original on July 21, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  21. ↑ "July 2020 Bar Exam: Jurisdiction Information". National Conference of Bar Examiners. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  22. 1 2 Ward, Stephanie Francis (April 22, 2020). "Utah is First State to Grant Diploma Privilege During Novel Coronavirus Pandemic". ABA Journal. Archived from the original on July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  23. ↑ Spiezio, Caroline (June 22, 2020). "Despite Diploma Privilege in WA, Some Firms Want Grads to Take Bar Exam". Reuters. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  24. 1 2 Atkinson, Khorri (September 24, 2020). "DC To Allow Limited Diploma Privilege Amid Pandemic - Law360". Law360. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  25. ↑ Hoylman, Brad (July 6, 2020). "New York S8682: Makes a Temporary Change to the System of Examination of Candidates for Admission to Practice as Attorneys and Counselors in the State of New York During the COVID-19 Pandemic; Repealer". trackbill.com. PolicyEngage LLC. Archived from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  26. ↑ Sloan, Karen (June 15, 2020). "Second State Lets Law Grads Skip the Bar Exam amid COVID-19". Law.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  27. ↑ Jaquiss, Nigel (June 29, 2020). "Oregon Supreme Court Agrees to Waive July Bar Exam for 2020 Oregon Law School Grads". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on July 4, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  28. ↑ Gallo, Andrea (July 22, 2020). "Supreme Court grants 'diploma privilege' to let recent grads practice without bar exam". NOLA.com. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.