Wisconsin law diploma privilege

July 12, 2009

Wisconsin: Federal judge Richard Posner has revived a class-action lawsuit to reauthorized a case to be heard regarding the diploma-privilege clause given to graduates of the University of Wisconsin Law School and Marquette University Law School. Judge Posner's decision to reauthorize the case has raised questions about the practice of Wisconsin's two law schools to admit new graduates to the bar without taking a bar exam. The current law states that graduates of accredited law schools in states other than Wisconsin who would like to practice law in Wisconsin have to either pass the Wisconsin bar exam or have practiced law for five years in another state.

The plaintiffs, who are graduates of the Oklahoma City University School of Law, argued Wisconsin's policy violates the commerce clause of the Constitution by discriminating against graduates of out-of-state law schools. The plaintiffs also said that Wisconsin should extend the diploma privilege to graduates of other law schools. Their suit named the Wisconsin Board of Bar Examiners and the Wisconsin Supreme Court as defendants.

The case was first filed in 2007 in the Western District of Wisconsin. Senior judge John C. Shabaz dismissed the case. Judge Shabaz said that diploma privilege does not discriminate because everyone who did not graduate from a Wisconsin law school has to take the bar. Judge Shabaz in his ruling mentioned state residents and non-residents alike.

Footnotes

• CLICK HERE for the official opinion of the Seventh Circuit.