Lawyers United Inc.
Plato in the Gorgias asks two classic questions: Who are you? What do you do? We are experienced lawyers and members of the bar in good standing. We advocate on behalf of lawyers, and their clients. Covid-19 has made it clear to recent law school graduates what experience lawyers have known for a long time; that after three years of law school the bar exam is a rite of passage that may not be necessary for public protection.
Federal Litigation
District of Columbia Circuit Amended Complaint COMPLAINT FOR INJUNCTIVE & DECLARATORY RELIEF TO ABROGATE FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT “LOCAL” (sic) RULES THAT DENY EQUAL AND RECIPROCAL GENERAL
State Reciprocity
Below is a map of the states that provide reciprocal admission on motion on a tit-for-tat basis (you get admission here we get a mission there). Twenty-six states have tit-for-tat admission on motion rules for experienced attorneys. We are looking for qualified attorneys from California who want to move elsewhere and can’t because of tit-for-tat rules, or attorneys in other states that do not provide reciprocal admission, or other attorneys who can’t get admission on motion in California because it does not provide admission on motion. We would prefer to target Arizona, Pennsylvania, or New Jersey tit-for-tat rules. However, we would consider seriously filing tit-for-tat challenges in other jurisdictions.
Based on recent Supreme Court precedent, we believe these tit-for-tat admission rules are clearly on unequivocally unconstitutional. Protectionism is also apparent in the jurisdictions that limit admission on motion to lawyers “from jurisdictions also offering admission on motion.”85 This reciprocal approach to admissions is not contingent on another jurisdiction’s admissions requirements, but rather focuses exclusively on whether the other state offers an admission on motion procedure. As a result, a novice lawyer from a “reciprocal” state could receive admission, whereas a much more experienced lawyer from a non-reciprocal state would have to re-take the entire bar examination. There is little, if any, justification for this discrimination that relates to attorney quality.
The primary explanation for imposing the full bar examination on the second lawyer while admitting the first on motion is to promote the economic interests of the in-state bar. Under the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent, economic protection is not a legitimate state interest. The Supreme Court has also expressly held that it will not presume that out-of-state attorneys will violate the rules of professional conduct or not keep abreast of local law if admitted in a second state.
Reciprocity for admission on motion to the state bar, by sort in the United States
Below is a map of the UB jurisdictions. These UBE jurisdictions do not test state law.
South Carolina and Rhode Island will admit novice lawyers from 38 states who passed the UBE but they will not provide reciprocal admission on motion for experienced lawyers from 49 state. This means that novice lawyers from 38 states have a constitutional right to travel and practice their profession and to petition the government on behalf of themselves and their clients as a member of the bar, but experienced lawyers from 49 states are deprived of these civil rights. What is governmental interest served by this discrimination?
If the legitimate justification of for bar exam is to determine “Competence” and “Public protection, how can either of these goals be advanced by favoring brand-new lawyers from 38 states over all experienced lawyers from 49 states. It is self-evident neither “Competence” or “Public Protection” are advanced by this bias and discrimination when state law is not even tested on a bar exam.
Lawyers United Inc. believes that inexperienced attorneys should not have more constitutional or civil rights than experienced attorneys. If all men and women are created equal it follows that all lawyers are created equal. There is thus no reason for a state to deny reciprocal general admission privileges to all lawyers other than economic protection for local lawyers. Economic protection is not a legitimate state interest.
Please join us and help us enforce your civil rights, your client’s civil rights, and We The People’s civil rights.
Map of UBE jurisdictions in the US
