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Re: RE: DC Bar and Novus
Posted by -- on 1/25/08

    Does anyone know what happened to Georgia's proposal to eliminate educational requirements
    for the bar exam?

    I found the item below in a search for something else but I thought it was interesting. I
    don't know when it was written -- it could have been years ago.


    **********************
    [http://www.gabar.org/public/pdf/LEG/HB_150_Info.pdf]
    H.B. 150 – Bar Exam Requirements
    Currently, to be eligible to take the bar exam in Georgia, an applicant must have an
    undergraduate degree from an accredited institution and a J.D. degree from an ABA-approved
    law school. The Supreme Court of Georgia has established those standards and rules, and
    the bar admissions and exam process is administered by the Board of Bar Examiners, an
    agency of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of Georgia, the Board of Bar Examiners and
    the State Bar believe that legal education is very important to the development of the
    skills, abilities and values of prospective lawyers. Simply passing a bar exam, a test for
    minimal competency, does not assure the public that an applicant has all the training (in
    substantive law, in ethics and in practice skills) that is required and expected of a
    newly admitted lawyer. The practice of law is becoming more complicated and more
    demanding, thus justifying the requirement that applicants be better trained and more
    acclimated to the personal and professional demands placed upon them. Requiring an
    accredited undergraduate degree and an ABA-approved legal education assures future clients
    and the public that a newly admitted lawyer is well prepared to represent clients
    competently and ethically. The Bar Admissions rules exist solely to protect the public.
    The Supreme Court of Georgia has established rules that are explicit to the needs and
    expectations of Georgians. Making Georgia subject to the standards of other states, some
    of which have decided to admit foreign-trained lawyers or lawyers who did not attend any
    law school, much less an ABA-approved school, is not in the best interests of the
    people of Georgia. The State Bar of Georgia supports the Board of Bar Examiners and the
    Supreme Court in their opposition to H.B. 150 on constitutional and practical grounds:
    1) The Georgia Constitution and supporting case law vests the authority to regulate the
    practice of law in the judicial branch of government. Therefore, adoption of H.B. 150 would
    be a violation of the constitutionally imposed separation of powers. See Wallace v.
    Wallace, 225 Ga. 102 (1969), Sams v. Olah, 225 Ga. 497 (1969).
    2) Practically, if the elimination of all educational requirements as proposed in H.B. 150
    were approved, on average each year, an additional 2250 applicants would be eligible for
    admission to the Bar in Georgia (Georgia has approximately 1,800 eligible applicants take
    the Bar exam each year under current standards.).
    3) If the standards of H.B. 150 were adopted, Georgia would be the only state in the U.S.
    to open its admissions policy to any successful bar exam taker from any other state
    regardless of the applicant’s education or practical experience.
    4) Adoption of H.B. 150 would make Georgia subject to the standards of every other state—
    when they change their standards, our standards would automatically change. Our applicants
    would only have to meet the lowest educational standard as established by any of the other
    49 states.
    5) The vast majority of states require the same or similar educational standards as
    Georgia—undergraduate degree from accredited institution and an ABA-approved law school.
    6) Most other professions in Georgia are required by their state licensing board to have
    similar educational standards in order to sit for their respective exams. (Applicants for
    medical exam must graduate from an AMA-approved medical school; architects must graduate
    from AIA-approved school of architecture, etc.) If H.B. 150 were approved, barbers in
    Georgia would be required to meet higher educational standards than lawyers.

     
     

 
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