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Bar News - September 23, 2005 Morning Mail - Is It Fair To Deny Admission by Motion to MSL Graduates? By: Eric Cook
As many of my colleagues know, the Massachusetts School of Law located in Andover is not an ABA accredited school. Many years ago the administration of the school decided to choose principle over pragmatism and elected not to conform to the standards of the time and accreditation was not granted. It has not been sought since. However, a petition was made to our Supreme Court and argued by our current Chief Justice to allow MSL graduates to take the bar exam. The petition was granted and many graduates, including this author, have taken and continue to take the NH bar exam and become members. I have discovered, though, that for MSL graduates who elect to waive in under Rule 42 the outcome is very different. Current practice is for the governing body to deny admission under the waiver and keep most of the $700 fee with the only explanation being offered that they [the applicants] are graduates of an unaccredited school. This to me seems tremendously unfair on its face. If graduates of MSL are allowed to sit for the bar, then why not allow them to waive in as well? It seems particularly unfair when you consider the fact that attorneys that waive in must have five years or more experience practicing law. We are allowing admission to new inexperienced attorneys and denying admission to seasoned experienced attorneys. The situation then is this: MSL graduates can take the bar exam in NH but cannot waive in. Several MSL graduates have completed the package for waiving in, expecting no problem because of their ability to sit for the bar exam—and have lost most of their fee. The question I put to my fellow NH attorneys is this: Is that fair? Eric Cook |
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