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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    September 01, 1997

    Wisconsin Lawyer September 1997: Supreme Court Orders

    Supreme Court Orders

    The Wisconsin Supreme Court has ordered a public hearing on Oct. 21 regarding these petition subjects: law school graduation requirement for Bar admission on examination; and the expunction of court records.


    Expunction of Court Records

    In the Matter of the Amendment of Supreme Court Rules: (Proposed) Chapter 74 - Expunction of Court Records

    Order 97-07

    On May 30, 1997, the Supreme Court's Records Management Committee filed a petition seeking the creation of a rule to provide that when a statute or court order requires that a court record be expunged, the clerk of the court shall remove any paper index and nonfinancial court record, place it in the case file and seal the case file. In the case of automated records, the clerk of court is to electronically remove any automated nonfinancial record, except the case number. The proposed rule would further provide that destruction of expunged court records be in accordance with the provisions of SCR Chapter 72.

    IT IS ORDERED that a public hearing on the petition shall be held in the Supreme Court Room in the State Capitol, Madison, Wis., on Oct. 21, 1997, at 1:30 p.m.

    IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the court's conference in the matter shall be held promptly following the public hearing.

    IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that notice of the hearing be given by a single publication of a copy of this order and of the petition in the official state newspaper and in an official publication of the State Bar of Wisconsin not more than 60 days nor less than 30 days before the date of the hearing.

    Dated at Madison, Wis., this 15th day of July, 1997.

    By the court:
    Marilyn L. Graves,
    Clerk of Court

    Bar Admission on Examination

    In the Matter of the Amendment of Supreme Court Rules: SCR 40.04(1) - Law School Graduation Requirement for Bar Admission on Examination

    Order 97-09

    On Feb. 14, 1997, the Massachusetts School of Law (MSL) filed petitions with the court and with the Board of Bar Examiners (Board) seeking a waiver for its graduates under SCR 40.10 of the requirement in SCR 40.04(1) that an applicant for bar admission attempting to satisfy the legal competence requirement by bar examination has been awarded a first professional degree in law from a law school that is approved by the American Bar Association at the time of the applicant's graduation. MSL asserted that it has not been approved by the American Bar Association.

    In that proceeding, Case No. 97-0484-BA, the Board denied the petition for waiver, stating that, while one of its functions is to review the applications of individuals seeking bar admission and certify to this court those individuals who meet the requirements set forth in the bar admission rules, SCR chapter 40, it is not the Board's function to review and certify curricula and programs of law schools that are not approved by the American Bar Association. On April 25, 1997, MSL filed a petition seeking review of the Board's denial of its petition for waiver and, pursuant to the court's orders, the Board filed a response and MSL filed a reply.

    Based on the matters set forth in the petition for waiver filed with the court and with the Board, the petition for review of the Board's adverse decision, and the briefs of the parties, the issue presented for determination is not whether a waiver of the bar admission requirement of graduation from an ABA-approved law school to write the Wisconsin bar examination should be granted to any and all graduates of MSL; rather, it is whether that bar admission rule should be amended to permit graduates of a non-ABA-approved law school - MSL and, perhaps, others - to satisfy the legal competence requirement for bar admission by writing successfully the Wisconsin bar examination. Accordingly, the court deems MSL's petition for waiver to constitute a petition for the amendment of SCR 40.04(1) as follows:

    (1) An applicant who has been awarded a first professional degree in law from a law school that is fully or provisionally approved by the American Bar Association or from the Massachusetts School of Law at the time of the applicant's graduation shall satisfy the legal competence requirement by presenting to the clerk certification of the board that the applicant has passed an examination administered by the board covering all or part of the subject matter areas of law specified in SCR 40.03(2)(a).

    It is appropriate, then, that the petition for review be dismissed, MSL's original petition be filed as a request for rule amendment, and a public hearing be held on the petition to afford interested persons to present their views, in person or in writing.

    IT IS ORDERED that the petition for review in Case No. 97-0484-BA is dismissed and the petition filed by the Massachusetts School of Law on Feb. 14, 1997, is docketed as rule amendment petition No. 97-09.

    IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a public hearing on the petition shall be held in the Supreme Court Room in the State Capitol, Madison, Wis., on Oct. 21, 1997, at 1:30 p.m.

    IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the court's conference in the matter shall be held promptly following the public hearing.

    IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that notice of the hearing be given by a single publication of a copy of this order and of the petition in the official state newspaper and in an official publication of the State Bar of Wisconsin not more than 60 days nor less than 30 days before the date of the hearing.

    Dated at Madison, Wis., this 15th day of July, 1997.

    By the court:
    Marilyn L. Graves,
    Clerk of Court


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