Law school is hell. Ask your average first year what their life is like, and chances are their answer will involve screaming, incoherent frustrated mutterings and a whimper or two. Maybe even a little sobbing. Law students start off with a huge workload that fails to let up until they graduate three years later. And even after that wondrous graduation day, there is still the looming spectacle of the bar exam hanging over them, just waiting to squeeze that last extra teaspoon of life out of those enterprising legal minds.
But in Wisconsin, law school grads can breathe a sigh of relief once they leave the hallowed halls of their alma maters—so long as they attended either the University of Wisconsin Law School or Marquette Law School. Thanks to Wisconsin's diploma privilege program, any student who graduates from one of the two law schools in the state is exempt from taking the bar exam. Students from out-of-state law schools such as Minnesota or Northwestern are still required to take the Wisconsin Bar, and Wisconsin students will still need to take the exam in other states, but for those who both attain their education and practice law in the state of Wisconsin, no testing is required.
But if a recent lawsuit filed against diploma privilege goes through, this program may be no more. Waukesha attorney Christopher Wiesmueller brought forth the lawsuit, claiming the policy is unconstitutional under the premise that it discriminates against non-residents.
At issue is whether graduates from Wisconsin's two law schools are actually better qualified to practice in the state, and whether that merits giving them a free pass on the bar exam. Wisconsin law school officials claim that they are. A Wisconsin or Marquette education ensures that an attorney is more well-versed in the details of Wisconsin law, and as there are only two law schools in state it is easy for them to be monitored closely. Anyone ambitious enough to take a look at the course offerings of both schools will clearly see that each offers numerous courses that are tailored to a uniquely Wisconsin legal education.
This also gives graduates of the two law schools a small incentive to remain in the state of Wisconsin. In many ways this is the purpose of public education, to educate and retain students, and something like diploma privilege could be the tipping point for some.
But simmering under the legal grounds of the lawsuit is the issue of whether the bar exam in really all that necessary for Wisconsin students. It would seem that a diploma proving you had completed three grueling years of legal study is a better indicator of one's possible legal success than a single two-day exam. And considering that attorneys educated at Wisconsin law schools are only marginally more likely to be investigated for ethics complaints than other attorneys, it seems there is little statistical need to weed people out using the bar exam.
That's not to say the bar exam serves no purpose. For the hundreds of law schools across the country that lie outside Wisconsin's borders, it is impossible to tell if their graduates have substantial knowledge of our state's laws. Again this is the most important part about the concept of diploma privilege, that those educated in state get a small benefit for not going elsewhere and that all practicing lawyers in Wisconsin have a sound understanding of the state and it's local laws.
Wisconsin law students don't have it easy. If they are going to stay in-state and apply their wares, they deserve a reward for all they have accomplished —and we feel it is right for them to receive one.
