A judge has dismissed a case that challenges Wisconsin’s “diploma privilege,” which allows Wisconsin law students to practice in-state after graduation without taking the state bar exam.
United States District Court Judge Barbara Crabb dismissed the case Saturday after the state agreed to pay plaintiff Corrine Wiesmueller $7,500.
Students who graduate from an American Bar Association-accredited law school in Wisconsin, whose curriculum specifically covers Wisconsin law, can practice in the state without taking the bar exam.
This currently only applies to the University of Wisconsin and Marquette University law students, however the language could theoretically encompass other state schools if necessary.
Corrine Wiesmueller, and her husband, Christopher, challenged this privilege, alleging it discriminates against out-of-state students who may wish to practice law in Wisconsin, according to their appeal. Wiesmueller graduated from Oklahoma City University School of Law in 2008.
According to the U.S. Constitution, states are prohibited from discriminating against “articles of commerce” simply because they come from out-of-state. An article of commerce can include people, and practicing law is considered a form of interstate commerce.
In the appeal, Wiesmueller said “the discriminatory fees, timing and the imposition of the bar exam on out-of-state law school graduates, impositions not shared by in-state law school graduates,” violates this commerce clause.
Wiesmueller also wrote in the appeal that students who take the Wisconsin bar exam have to study a broader range of subject matter to pass the exam than the diploma privilege students, which puts a greater burden on out-of-state students.
Eric Hinojosa is a second year law student at UW, and said he believes the diploma privilege is a definite advantage for students who come to study at UW for law school.
“There’s a lot of Wisconsin-focused classes in our curriculum, and I think it’s nice that they recognize that most students coming out of here will be applying to practice law in Wisconsin,” Hinojosa said.
Hinojosa added it would be “silly” to make students who already have spent three years studying Wisconsin law and have demonstrated they are fully capable to apply this law through internships and clerkships to take the bar exam.
He does not think the law necessarily disadvantages out-of-state students, because they have not had the same background in Wisconsin law and criminal procedures.
The diploma privilege can also be seen as a way to keep young lawyers in Wisconsin. Hinojosa said not having to take the exam has created an incentive for him to stay in Wisconsin to practice law after graduation, instead of moving back home to Michigan.
“Wisconsin trains the majority of the future prosecutors in this state, and I think it’s a good way to make sure that those people stay in Wisconsin, or at least have Wisconsin as their first choice to practice rather than going elsewhere after the state’s already invested thousands of dollars in their education,” he said.
