Multijurisdictional Practice Update From NAAMJP
The National Association for the Advancement of Multijurisdiction Practice filed a Complaint in the Northern District of California NAAMJP v. California Supreme Court 11-5046 SBA petitioning to have all restrictions on California registered in-house counsel removed and that they be converted to full licensure in light of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 130 S.Ct. 876 (2010) holding corporations have First Amendment rights and “Any effort by the Judiciary to decide which means of communications are to be preferred for the particular type of message and speaker would raise questions as to the courts' own lawful authority.”
The lawsuit further argues that the California experienced attorneys’ bar exam should be invalidated. The Complaint alleges that five nationally respected testing experts have concluded the California bar exam for experienced sister-state attorneys is neither a valid or reliable test. Testing experts and statisticians have developed what is termed a standard error of measurement. The Complaint alleges that standard error of measurement for the experienced attorneys’ exam is over 50%.
The Complaint further requests the California Supreme Court to adopt the ABA 20/20 Commission’s recommendation that all attorneys with three years of experience be provided full admission on motion privileges without taking another bar exam. The ABA 20/20 Commission concluded that 65,000 attorneys have been admitted to the bar of another State on motion in 39 States during the last ten years. It further urged all States to adopt its recommendation. It concluded that there is no reason to conclude that an attorney with three years of experience will be any less competent then a newly minted attorney.
The NAAMJP further argues citing Citizens United that in this Information Age and global economy requiring experienced attorneys to reinvent the wheel makes as much sense as licensing printing presses in the 16th Century. A copy of the complaint can be found at http://www.mjplaw.org/pending_litigation.html . Check out our web page at www.mjplaw.org, it has much more detailed information about the organization.
Feel free to contact us either via email or phone, our contact information is below.
Sincerely,
Grant Savoy
NAAMJP
310.207.1776
213.840.7234
grant@mjplaw.org
