Minn. law grads seek extension to bar rule
Wisconsin natives want to practice without exam
Could the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to everything else it has affected, cause a Wisconsin lawyer shortage?
Many states have canceled their July bar exams, typically the final hurdle prospective lawyers must clear to begin their careers. Wisconsin is still on the fence about its exam, scheduled for July 28-29.
Three new University of Minnesota law grads — all Wisconsin natives with jobs lined up in their home state — doubt it will happen. They’ve petitioned the Supreme Court to admit them to practice here under an emergency extension of Wisconsin’s unique “diploma privilege.”
The privilege lets graduates of Wisconsin’s two law schools skip the bar exam, on the assumption that the state-focused curricula at Marquette and the University of Wisconsin make those graduates competent in state law.
Graduates from out-of-state law schools who want to practice in Wisconsin must pass the Wisconsin bar exam. About 125 people take it each summer, sitting next to each other in a large room for two six-hour days.
“COVID-19 makes administering a July bar examination impractical and extremely unsafe,” the petition notes. “Administering the bar examination requires a large gathering of individuals.”
With so many bigger fish to fry since the trio petitioned for an emergency rule change April 20, the Supreme Court hasn’t yet decided whether to grant it. But it did seek input from the law deans at Marquette and the University of Wisconsin, the state bar president, and the director of the state’s Board of Bar Examiners.
They all think it’s a bad idea.
But the petitioners, unlicensed though they may be, make some compelling arguments for the proposal. They are all high-achieving Wisconsin natives with the kinds of credentials that landed them jobs at major law firms in the state, and have little fear of not passing the bar exam.
Paige Papandrea and Tommy Hansfield were Law Review editors at Minnesota, and worked as summer associates last year at Foley & Lardner, one of Milwaukee’s major firms. Corissa Pennow worked at the Milwaukee office of another national law firm, Ogletree Deakins. They all accepted offers to begin permanent positions at those firms in the fall — contingent on passing the bar exam.
They didn’t try to involve their prospective employers in changing the admission rules.
“We felt like this was something to do on our own,” Papandrea said. “I have no idea about their thoughts.”
Nor did Pennow reach out to Ogletree about the trio’s petition.
Linda Benfield, managing partner at Foley & Lardner, was not available for an interview, but said the firm is also waiting to hear from the Board of Bar Examiners, and will follow its recommendations.
If the July exam gets canceled now, it would be too late for graduates to register to take another state’s bar exam in July. All states but one traditionally administer the exams on the same two days in July and February, since the Multistate Bar Exam portion is given nationwide.
According to their petition, if Papandrea, Pennow and Hansfield can’t take the bar exam, they can’t start working to help clients or earn salaries to pay off law school loans.
Typically, large firms start all their new hires together, so delaying admission for out-of-state grads might even delay the start of those admitted by diploma privilege, they say.
The “modified diploma privilege” they propose would grant them temporary, conditional admission to the state bar. Only spring 2020 graduates of American Bar Association-approved law schools with first-time bar passage rates of at least 80% would qualify. And only after 360 hours of supervised practice and instruction in Wisconsin law would they earn full admission.
The idea is modeled after one already adopted by the Utah Supreme Court last month.
Delayed employment, and the prospect of borrowing more money to cover living expenses, isn’t even the worst outcome. “There is even a possibility that employers will not wait for these graduates to become bar certified, instead rescinding their offers of employment.”
In her response to the court, Jacquelynn Rothstein — director of the state’s Board of Bar Examiners — lays out the logistical nightmare of trying to schedule the two-day exam in Madison, given the many unknowns of the pandemic. Many takers travel from out of state, and require hotel rooms. The board has already had to make provisional arrangements for giving the exam in September.
“While postponing the July exam until the Fall of 2020 would be unprecedented, it appears to be the best option at the moment given the seriousness of the COVID-19 outbreak,” she wrote.
The examining board unanimously supports that position, but the Supreme Court must approve the change.
As for the graduates’ petition, Rothstein says it would be implausible to create and present a condensed course in Wisconsin law to the out-of-state law school graduates in the short time frame envisioned.
She also asks what would become of the temporary admission if the person did poorly, who would decide that, and what appeals process the conditionally admitted new lawyers would have.
In an interview Friday, Pennow, who plans to work in employment and labor law, and Papandrea, who is interested in data privacy, said they would have been graduating Saturday but for the pandemic.
“I think they’re planning some kind of online commencement, like a PowerPoint with every graduate’s name and information on a slide,” said Pennow, who’s still in Minneapolis. “I sent the link to my parents.”
Papandrea, who’s been living with her parents in Delafield since March, said she might watch, but that “it’s more bitter than sweet.”
But the friends who met on the very first day of law school now have their Supreme Court petition to mark the end of law school.
“It was fun to do the research and write the memo and work collaboratively,” Pennow said. “It was like a capstone project.”
Papandrea agreed. “It was a very good experience, regardless of the outcome,” she said. “It was a cool way to end our law school experience.”