[WSBAPT] Letter Re: Supreme Court Grants Diploma privilege to LLTs and ABA accredited law school grads, and No Bar Exam

Fri Jun 26 16:14:48 PDT 2020

  Law Office of
F.ANDREKITA SILVA
________________________________________________________________________

.                                                        
                               June 26, 2020          

I just read the June 12 Order Granting Diploma Privilege and  
Temporarily Modifying Admission & Practice Rules.

Based on the language in the order, it wasn’t clear to me if the  
“diploma privilege to practice in Washington” is granted permanently,  
or if it is temporary.

Does it seem clear to others, based on the language of the order, that  
those covered by this order NEVER have to take the Bar?
Or, is it possible it means that if you graduated from an accredited  
law school, temporarily, you can practice law?

Or am I just naive to think the Supremes would not have acted so  
precipitously?

andrekita
Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva
1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, Washington 98101
206-224-8288
www.seattle-silvalaw.com

Quoting Marsha Hudson <marsha at griffyn.us>:

> I concur with Mr. Ursich’s letter, below. [1]
>
>     
>
>    I am persuaded by the ABA’s Basic Overview of Bar Admissions:
>
>    Licensing involves a demonstration of worthiness in two distinct  
> areas. The first is competence. For initial licensure, competence is  
> ordinarily established by a showing that the applicant holds an  
> acceptable educational credential (with some exceptions, a J.D.  
> degree) from a law school that meets educational standards, and by  
> achieving a passing score on the bar examination.  …
>
>    The second area of inquiry by bar examiners involves the  
> character and fitness of applicants for a law license. In this  
> regard, bar examiners seek background information concerning each  
> applicant that is relevant to the appropriateness of granting a  
> professional credential. BECAUSE LAW IS A PUBLIC PROFESSION, AND  
> BECAUSE THE DEGREE OF HARM A LAWYER, ONCE LICENSED, CAN INFLICT IS  
> SUBSTANTIAL, DECISIONS ABOUT WHO SHOULD BE ADMITTED TO PRACTICE LAW  
> ARE MADE CAREFULLY BY BAR EXAMINING BOARDS. [Highlight mine.]
>
>    Respectfully,
>
>    Marsha Hudson
>
>     
>
>     MARSHA C. HUDSON
> Attorney at Law #23330
>
>     3221 NW 62nd Street, Seattle, WA  98107
>
>     Telephone: 206-297-3933
>
>     Fax: 206-357-9356
> marsha at griffyn.us
>
> /Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing  
> for others? -/ Martin Luther King, Jr.
>
> This e-mail may contain information that is protected by  
> attorney-client, work product and/or other privileges.  If you are  
> not the intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination,  
> use, or reliance upon its contents is strictly prohibited.  If you  
> have received this e-mail in error, please contact me immediately  
> and return the email by forwarding it to this office  
> at marsha at griffyn.us and then deleting the e-mail.
> P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail
>
>     
>
>      FROM: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com  
> [mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com] ON BEHALF OF Gregory L.  
> Ursich
> SENT: Thursday, June 25, 2020 7:29 PM
> TO: supreme at courts.wa.gov
> CC: WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>; ATTY  
> <atty at insleebest.com>; WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv  
> <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
> SUBJECT: [WSBAPT] Letter Re: Supreme Court Grants Diploma privilege  
> to LLTs and ABA accredited law school grads, and No Bar Exam
> IMPORTANCE: High
>
>     
>
>    Dear Honorable Supreme Court Justices:
>
>     
>
>    I write to you now regarding the Emergency Order entered by your  
> Court on June 12, 2020, that suddenly changes all the APR rules in  
> Washington to automatically admit to the practice of law all ABA  
> graduate applicants and previous test takers who had failed a  
> previous bar exam in Washington and who applied to take the Summer  
> 2020 bar exam, scheduled for July and September 2020.   This broad  
> and sweeping decision to exempt all applicants for the summer 2020  
> bar exams to never have to take the bar in Washington is too broad.   
> First, bar applicants who previously failed the Washington bar, no  
> matter how many times, are now automatically admitted if signed up  
> for the Summer 2020 exams (July and September).  Second, the last  
> bar exam pass rate was only 49%.  When I personally took the bar in  
> 1989, the pass rate was only 62%.  I came from a middle class family  
> and put myself through college and law school after losing my father  
> at age 11.  My father was a retired Master Chief Petty Officer in  
> the U.S. Navy and my mother was a Registered Nurse.  I still  
> remember how hard it was to concentrate for and study for the bar in  
> my mother’s basement.  It is not an easy thing to do, but I was  
> proud of my accomplishment to pass the exam and to be admitted to  
> the Washington Bar at the young age of 24.  I certainly have not  
> followed bar passage rates in Washington, but I think they have  
> varied between about 45% to 75% over the last 30 years.  The exam is  
> a competency measure to protect the public and to ensure a certain  
> level of competency to practice law in Washington.  We are a  
> profession with many technical rules and requirements and the public  
> deserves the protection the bar exam provides.  Every day when we  
> deal with researching the law, drafting briefs and motions, meeting  
> with our clients to provide legal advice, and appearing in court we  
> are tested with new experiences and fact patterns and we draw on our  
> expertise in the law gained from attendance in law school, testing  
> our competence on the bar exam, and experience gained during our  
> practice.  The bar exam is an important component of that as ensures  
> a minimum level of competency as a new lawyer to immediately  
>  represent clients in court and to take the responsibility for our  
> clients’ personal liberties, financial health, and family  
> relationships.  The public deserves to know they have a competent  
> lawyer representing them, and the bar exam provides a needed  
> competency check for that.
>
>     
>
>    A more balanced approach could be that the 2020 summer exam  
> applicants are admitted on a provisional basis and can practice law  
> so long as they sit for the bar exam by the summer of 2021.  Their  
> admission to the bar would remain valid until the results are  
> announced for the summer 2021 exam in the fall of 2021.  If they  
> pass that exam their admission continues.  If they fail the bar exam  
> in either the winter of 2021 or summer 2021, then their provisional  
> admission ends until they take the exam again and pass.  This  
> approach balances the effect of the Corona Virus Crisis on studying  
> for and passing the bar exam during the crisis and allows for  
> gainful employment in the interim.  This approach would also protect  
> the public because those who ultimately have a problem passing the  
> exam will not be admitted on a long term basis until they can show  
> their basic competency to practice law.
>
>     
>
>    I understand that this approach of temporary licensing is being  
> used right now by the Washington State Boards that license dentists  
> and pharmacists; similarly it should apply to lawyers.   I for one  
> would not want to have a doctor, dentist or pharmacist take care of  
> me in Washington without having to take their boards.  I feel that  
> this is an important issue for our profession, and a more narrowly  
> tailored approach to the current crisis is warranted to protect the  
> public and to ensure competency in our learned profession.  Thanks  
> for listening.   –Greg Ursich
>
>     
>
>     
>
>
>
>   GREGORY L. URSICH
>
>         Shareholder
>
>         Skyline Tower, Suite 1500 | 10900 NE 4th Street | Bellevue, WA 98004
>
>         P: 425.450.4258 | F: 425.635.7720
>
>         _vCard[2]_ | _website[3]_ | _gursich at insleebest.com_
>
>      
>
>     This electronic mail transmission is privileged and confidential  
> and is intended only for the review of the party to whom it is  
> addressed.  If you have received this transmission in error, please  
> immediately return it to the sender.  Unintended transmission shall  
> not constitute waiver of the attorney-client or any other privilege.
>
>     

Links:
------
[1]
[2] http://www.insleebest.com/uploads/vcards/gursich.vcf
[3] http://www.insleebest.com/
  andrekita
Law Office of F. Andrekita Silva
1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, Washington 98101
206-224-8288
www.seattle-silvalaw.com
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