Correspondence Law School Grads May
Practice in Wisconsin

by Jeffrey S. Kinsler

For decades, the only persons eligible to take the Wisconsin bar examination were graduates of ABA-approved law schools.1 This all changed, however, on June 4, 1998, when the Wisconsin Supreme Court promulgated a seemingly innocuous amendment to SCR 40.04(1). In a one-page order, the supreme court amended SCR 40.04(1) to read:

"(1) An applicant who has been awarded a first professional degree in law from one of the following [shall be eligible to take the bar examination]:

"(a) A law school that is fully or provisionally approved by the American bar association at the time of the applicant's graduation.

"(b) A law school whose graduates are eligible to take the bar examination of the state, territory or District of Columbia in which the law school is located, provided the applicant has passed the bar examination of and has been admitted to practice in that or another state." 2

This amendment arose out of a petition filed by the Massachusetts School of Law (MSL), a non-ABA-approved law school whose graduates are eligible to take the Massachusetts bar examination.3 MSL filed its petition pursuant to SCR 40.10, asking the Wisconsin Board of Bar Examiners (BBE) to waive SCR 40.04(1) so that its graduates could take the Wisconsin bar examination. At that time, SCR 40.04(1) stated that only graduates of ABA-approved law schools could sit for the Wisconsin bar examination. In support of its petition, MSL claimed that the quality of its legal education is substantially equivalent to that of ABA-approved law schools. The BBE denied MSL's request for a waiver on the ground that only applicants, and not law schools, are eligible to seek waivers under SCR 40.10.4 MSL then petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court for review. The BBE, MSL, and the ABA submitted briefs and other materials to the supreme court, which held a public hearing on Oct. 21, 1997.5

On June 4, 1998, the supreme court issued Order 97-09, permitting graduates of law schools that lack ABA approval but that have some form of state approval (for example, MSL) to take the Wisconsin bar examination. There are 43 such schools in California alone, including 10 correspondence law schools.6 The 1998 amendment to SCR 40.04(1) has opened up Wisconsin to a whole new class of law school graduates. It is now possible for graduates of correspondence law schools to sit for the Wisconsin bar examination and, if successful, practice law in Wisconsin. Moreover, it appears that the supreme court never contemplated the admission of correspondence school graduates when it amended SCR 40.04(1). This article urges the supreme court to reconsider its amendment to SCR 40.04(1) to determine whether it is overly inclusive.

Correspondence Law Schools
Concord University School of Law in Los Angeles, Calif., is one of a growing number of Internet and correspondence law schools in America.7 It has no campus, so its students never set foot in a classroom. Concord offers a four-year, part-time program with a curriculum and materials it claims are substantially similar to those of brick-and-mortar law schools. Concord is approved by the Bureau of Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education to grant law degrees, and is registered with the California Committee of Bar Examiners, which entitles its students to sit for the California bar examination.8 Graduates of Concord have taken and passed the California bar examination.9 California has designated Concord a "correspondence" school; correspondence schools are not eligible for ABA approval.10

Concord's all-Internet instruction has been criticized by lawyers, judges, and educators alike, including Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who protested that:

Page 2: Correspondence Law School