jurisdictions – some jurisdictions require an ABA-accredited JD , while others permit law office study or state accreditation . Do you think that these variations in educational standards are likely to change at any point in the future ? Will jurisdictions move toward more consistency in educational standards ?
I ’ m hoping that the ABA will remain the most common standard . I ’ m not convinced it will , but I ’ m hoping it will . Our small Board of Law Examiners would have great difficulty in determining the quality of education at an unaccredited law school , so we are grateful for the ABA ’ s assurance in this regard . Maybe larger states that have a much bigger pool of employees working for them can achieve that , but we can ’ t . We have three bar examiners , and the secretary of our Board is also the clerk of our Court , so she ’ s very busy .
When I got out of law school in 1958 , one could acquire a bachelor ’ s degree and a law degree from UND in six years if you started taking law school credits when you were a junior . I didn ’ t decide to go to law school until I was a junior , so it was already too late for me to pursue that option . Now that ’ s changed , and it is a seven-year process . I know that ’ s a long time for some people ; nevertheless , I still think it ’ s valuable . Although the bar passage rate is a significant factor in law school accreditation , accredited law schools must do more than teach to pass the bar exam . The well-rounded education provided by law schools is one of the reasons North Dakota abandoned the avenue of “ reading the law ” under a lawyer or a judge . Reading the law has some advantages over classroom study , but it does not overcome the educational advantages offered by a good accredited law school .
The ABA standards really are for the benefit of the law school , and to provide reassurance that their graduates are indeed qualified to sit for the bar exam . If we didn ’ t have that reassurance , I don ’ t know where we ’ d be . I think the quality of the law school would go down . I ’ ve sat on several ABA law school site inspection teams for ABA accreditation , and I ’ ve done enough site inspections to
know that some of the schools are unhappy about all the prodding that the inspection process entails , but I think the accreditation process works well .
4Do you think jurisdictions are likely to continue to license attorneys , or do you think attorney licensure will at some time move toward national bar admission ?
This is certainly a question that ’ s alive and well ; I was recently discussing this very question with a staff member of the National Center for State Courts and another chief justice . The British don ’ t understand our federalism ; they think that the ABA or Congress governs . I don ’ t think this is the case , but I must admit that I ’ m afraid someday someone will say that stateby-state licensure of lawyers violates the Constitution , and Congress will set up their own licensing provision . The states have to be on guard for that .
My preference is that the states continue to dictate who is allowed to practice law in their jurisdictions . However , I do understand that if the states start doing this arbitrarily – for instance , if they were to set a standard that only the very few elite can meet – that would be problematic . Or if they admitted anybody , that would also be problematic .
I would not be as concerned about this
issue except for what ’ s currently happening , with some states starting to say they don ’ t want to follow the traditional standards for admission to the bar . And if the states all become too disparate , that ’ s what would cause Congress to say they need to take control . A little separation in admission standards is fine , but if you get too much , that would be the catalyst for Congress to step in and say they need to take over . If states become too lax in their standards for admitting lawyers , that would be problematic . I ’ m concerned about this , and I can see this as a potential problem .
5What do you see as the greatest future challenge for bar admissions ? What should state Supreme Courts and boards of law examiners do to prepare for that challenge ?
I think a big issue now is allowing people to perform certain legal activities without being licensed . Lawyers gave up performing real estate transactions a long time ago , and individuals can now draw up their own paperwork for selling their home , for instance . These individuals are not licensed , and no one is saying this constitutes the unauthorized practice of law , yet at one time it would have been considered so .
Court navigators pose a similar challenge . And in North Dakota we ’ ve allowed
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