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

Sat Jun 27 10:02:35 PDT 2020

I wanted to share the below email from Justice Stephens with all of you.

Sincerely,

Tom

Thomas J. Westbrook

Attorney at Law

Rodgers Kee Card & Strophy, P.S.

324 West Bay Drive NW, Suite 201

Olympia, Washington  98502

Phone: 360-352-8311

Facsimile: 360-352-8501

Email: tjw at buddbaylaw.com

Skype: thomas.westbrook

www.buddbaylaw.com

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strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise
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*From:* OFFICE RECEPTIONIST, CLERK <SUPREME at COURTS.WA.GOV>
*Sent:* Friday, June 26, 2020 4:32 PM
*To:* 'Tom Westbrook' <tjw at w3net.net>
*Subject:* RE: [WSBARP] Letter Re: Supreme Court Grants Diploma privilege
to LLTs and ABA accredited law school grads, and No Bar Exam

Dear Mr. Westbrook:

Thank you for your email requesting the Supreme Court rescind the limited
Diploma privilege granted to certain 2020 bar examination applicants.

As you know, the Supreme Court order of June 12, 2020 grants a limited
Diploma Privilege (DP) to certain applicants currently registered to take
the bar examination in Washington in July or September 2020, as well as to
applicants currently registered to take the LLLT licensing examination in
July 2020.  That order changed course from the previous decision of the
court at its April 29, 2020 En Banc meeting to reject a DP option, and was
issued in response to an urgent request from Dean Annette Clark and Seattle
University Law School faculty, which sought reconsideration of a DP option
in light of the significant barriers facing exam applicants caused by the
confluence of the pandemic and civil demonstrations against racial
injustice sparked by the police killing of George Floyd.  Given the short
timelines, the court considered the request on June 12, 2020, and agreed
that the unprecedented situation justified a limited DP option.

Almost immediately after issuing the June 12th order, the court began
receiving numerous requests to reconsider, ranging from requests to rescind
the DP option to requests to expand the option to include applicants in
addition to currently registered J.D. degree holders from ABA accredited
law schools - specifically LLM graduate applicants, APR 6 applicants, and
those eligible but not currently registered for the July and September 2020
examinations.  Without enumerating the arguments for and against
modification of the existing DP order, let me simply acknowledge there are
valid reasons one might make a different decision or draw a different line
from the one drawn by the court.  However, the court confirmed the June
12th order stands.  This message was communicated to WSBA and the Deans of
Washington’s three law schools in the days following the order.  And now,
with the July bar exam fast approaching, the WSBA needs to plan and prepare
for the safest possible testing environment at multiple sites, and for full
accommodation of special testing needs.  Those currently registered for the
July and September exams need certainty in order to prepare to successfully
take their exams, while those not registered need finality in the decision
that they are ineligible for the DP option.  The balance of interests
counsels against further modification of the court’s order, though I
appreciate this is disappointing to many.

Please know that, at the same time the court voted to grant a limited DP
option, it also approved the creation of a Work Group or Task Force to
examine Washington’s bar admission and licensure system and to make
recommendations for possible reforms.  The framework for that effort is
currently under development, and I anticipate the work starting before the
end of the summer.  I am saving all  communications the court has received
in connection with the June 12th order for consideration by that group.
Your input will be valuable in the process moving forward.

Sincerely,

Chief Justice Stephens

*From:* Tom Westbrook [mailto:tjw at w3net.net <tjw at w3net.net>]
*Sent:* Friday, June 26, 2020 10:40 AM
*To:* OFFICE RECEPTIONIST, CLERK <SUPREME at COURTS.WA.GOV>
*Cc:* WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>; WSBA Real
Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>
*Subject:* RE: [WSBARP] Letter Re: Supreme Court Grants Diploma privilege
to LLTs and ABA accredited law school grads, and No Bar Exam

Dear Honorable Supreme Court Justices,

Like Mr. Ursich below, we all have our individual stories about law school,
studying for and taking the bar exam and the great satisfaction of passing
the exam to be sworn in as a young attorney back in 1973. Please do not
demean all of us that have gone through this age old process successfully
and are privileged to practice today serving clients across our State. It
may not be the perfect process, but it is the one we have in place.
COVID-19 has caused many to suffer in so many ways so very unfortunately,
but it should not be the cause for failing to ensure the public some
measure of performance they can rely upon in the already difficult process
of choosing an attorney. We have all learned how to social distance, wear
masks and work remotely. It should not be a great conundrum to develop a
simple process in this day and age to administer the bar exam. And if the
people sitting for the bar are not able to follow whatever safety measures
and processes put in place to accommodate the testing, then they should not
be admitted to the bar anyway.

Sincerely,

Tom

Thomas J. Westbrook

Attorney at Law

Rodgers Kee Card & Strophy, P.S.

324 West Bay Drive NW, Suite 201

Olympia, Washington  98502

Phone: 360-352-8311

Facsimile: 360-352-8501

Email: tjw at buddbaylaw.com

Skype: thomas.westbrook

www.buddbaylaw.com
<https://smex-ctp.trendmicro.com:443/wis/clicktime/v1/query?url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.buddbaylaw.com&umid=4197ff9b-a5b7-46bc-8ccc-b92928022318&auth=307af4a8b3e2584c3e2a57c41227f86cfbf88d45-4fa50e32bc1f2866f6d441507521adaf37a17106>

The information contained in this email and attachment(s) are for the
exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may contain private, privileged
and/or confidential information.  If you are not the addressee, you are
strictly prohibited from reading, photocopying, distributing or otherwise
using this email or its contents in any way. If you have received this
communication in error, please notify us immediately by telephone at
360-352-8311 or by e-mail to shannon at buddbaylaw.com, and destroy the
original message from your electronic files.

*From:* wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbarp-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:* [WSBARP] 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 <http://www.insleebest.com/uploads/vcards/gursich.vcf>* | *website
<http://www.insleebest.com/>* | *gursich at insleebest.com
<gursich at insleebest.com>*

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