More lawyers in Minnesota? Crickets in Duluth
Mar 19th, 2010 by Mark Cohen
No one showed up to give their input at a public hearing in Duluth on whether grads of law schools not accredited by the ABA should be able to sit for the Minnesota bar exam.
With so many unemployed JDs looking for jobs, one would think that a proposal to expand the number of people eligible to take the Minnesota bar exam would cause a stir among rank-and-file lawyers.
But nobody showed up on Tuesday for a public hearing in Duluth on a proposal to allow grads of law schools not accredited by the ABA to take the Minnesota bar exam. The thunderous nonresponse was somewhat puzzling given that the proposal has definitely generated some chatter among members of the bar, including some commentary on this blog. Fortunately a Minnesota Lawyer reporter (to wit, me) made the drive to the St. Louis County Courthouse to catch all of the “action.” We have a story in the print edition. (Password required).
In case you’re wondering, I did not just sit there and record the sound of crickets chirping. Prior opening the meeting for public comment, the board heard testimony (via teleconference) from bar exam officials in New York (which allows grads from non-ABA-accredited law schools to sit for its exam.) Despite the more open rule in New York, few grads of domestic non-ABA-accredited law schools actually take the exam. (Just a couple in a recent administration, New York bar exam officials said. There is a separate rule in place for foreign law school grads, and many more of those taking the NY bar exam.)
The board also heard the testimony of its former president, Duluth attorney John Kelly, who said Minnesota should stick with allowing only grads of ABA-accredited law schools to take the bar exam, given that: 1. ABA accreditation is the “gold standard”; and 2. Minnesota already has enough lawyers, thank you very much.
The board held this public hearing– and is holding a second one in St. Paul at 8:30 a.m. on March 30 — as part of its charge from the Minnesota Supreme Court to study the issue. Four grads of nonABA-acreditted law schools have asked the high court to change the rules to let them sit for the exam. The board has been very thorough, taking testimony from a variety of sources at board meetings held over the last few months. Transcripts and recordings of those meetings are available on the board’s Web site.
For more info about the upcoming hearing in St. Paul, click here.
Don’t hold meetings in the middle of nowhere if you want people to show up. Duluth? Seriously? All meetings should be held in Minneapolis or not held at all.
WM ‘08
Interesting comment, especially since your alama ater and all the state’s appellate courts are located in St. Paul. :0) … While the majority of lawyers in the state are undeniably concentrated in the Twin Cities area, there’s actually an interesting and vibrant legal community in Duluth.
As I mention above, the Board is also having a public meeting in the Metro area on March 30. I think it was a good idea for the Board to give greater Minnesota lawyers a chance to say something — even if that something turned out to be nothing. Sometimes it’s nice just to be asked. In any event, I don’t suspect that overpopulation of lawyers in Duluth is as much of a problem as it is in the Cities.
It’s not puzzling that opponents of the proposal didn’t bother to travel to Duluth to attend the public hearing. What is puzzling is that no proponents attended.
Fair enough. We’ll see how many folks (on either side) show up in St. Paul on March 30.
The petitioners (the four people whom I would assume care the most) have already given their “input” in their petitition, so I don’t know if they will show up for the St. Paul hearing either. There aren’t really a lot of people in Minnesota who are liekly tp be impacted, so there’s not going to be a big lobby in favor of it.
It’s mostly a philosophical debate. Do we wan’t attendance at an ABA-accredited school to be an absolute prerequisite to taking the Minnesota bar? Or should there be exceptions in some circumstances, such as those presented by the petitioners?
[...] 23, 2010 by Mark Cohen I mentioned in a recent post the experience that New York has had with allowing graduates of non-ABA accredited law schools [...]