Bill Text: MI SB0195 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Occupations; attorneys; eligibility requirements for attorney licensed in another state to practice law in Michigan; modify. Amends secs. 937, 940 & 946 of 1961 PA 936 (MCL 600.937 et seq.) & adds sec. 945.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-28 - Referred To Committee On Judiciary [SB0195 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2017-SB0195-Introduced.html

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SENATE BILL No. 195

 

 

February 28, 2017, Introduced by Senator CASPERSON and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

 

     A bill to amend 1961 PA 236, entitled

 

"Revised judicature act of 1961,"

 

by amending sections 937, 940, and 946 (MCL 600.937, 600.940, and

 

600.946) and by adding section 945.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 937. Every Except as provided in section 945, an

 

applicant for admission to the bar is required to have completed

 

successfully prior to commencement of his successfully completed,

 

before beginning his or her legal education, at least 2 years of

 

study, consisting of not less than 60 "semester hours" or 90

 

"quarter hours" of study in courses for which credit towards a

 

collegiate degree is given, either in an accredited college

 

authorized under the laws of the state in which the college is

 

located to grant collegiate degrees, or in a junior college or

 

other school from which students who have successfully completed

 

such those 2 years of study are accepted as regular third-year

students by any accredited college in this state that is authorized

 

by law to grant collegiate degrees.

 

     Sec. 940. (1) Every Except as provided in section 945, an

 

applicant for examination is required to be a graduate from a

 

reputable and qualified law school duly incorporated under the laws

 

of located in this state, or another state or territory of the

 

United States, or the District of Columbia. , of the United States

 

of America.

 

     (2) If an applicant is called into or volunteers for the armed

 

forces Armed Forces of the United States, of America, and has

 

completed successfully 2 1/2 2-1/2 years of the course of study as

 

a full-time student, or 3 1/2 3-1/2 years of the course of study as

 

a part-time student, in any such a law school described in

 

subsection (1), the board of law examiners , in its discretion may

 

allow such the applicant to be examined for the bar prior to such

 

before his or her graduation, but shall withhold certification

 

until after his or her graduation.

 

     Sec. 945. An individual who is duly licensed to practice law

 

in the court of last resort of any other state or territory of the

 

United States or the District of Columbia may apply for examination

 

in this state without meeting the education requirements described

 

in section 937 or 940 if he or she proves all of the following to

 

the satisfaction of the board of law examiners:

 

     (a) He or she has not been suspended or discharged from the

 

bar of another state or territory of the United States or the

 

District of Columbia or from the bar of any federal court of the

 

United States.

     (b) He or she is a person of good moral character. As used in

 

this subdivision, "good moral character" means good moral character

 

as defined and determined under 1974 PA 381, MCL 338.41 to 338.47.

 

     (c) He or she is 18 years of age or older.

 

     (d) He or she has sufficient general education and learning in

 

the law to enable him or her to practice law in the courts of

 

record of this state. In determining whether it is satisfied that

 

an individual has proved that he or she meets this subdivision, the

 

board of law examiners shall apply a rebuttable presumption that an

 

individual who has successfully passed the bar examination in

 

another state or territory of the United States or the District of

 

Columbia has sufficient general education and learning in the law

 

to enable him or her to practice law in the courts of record of

 

this state.

 

     (e) He or she has the current fitness and ability to enable

 

him or her to practice law in the courts of record of this state.

 

     Sec. 946. (1) Any person An individual who is duly licensed to

 

practice law in the court of last resort of any other state or

 

territory of the United States or the District of Columbia, of the

 

United States of America, and who applies for admission to the bar

 

of this state without examination, is required to prove all of the

 

following to the satisfaction of the board of law examiners: that:

 

     (a) (1) He or she is a member in good standing at of the bar

 

of such that other state, territory, or district , and has the

 

qualifications as to moral character, citizenship, age, general

 

education, fitness, and ability required for admission to the bar

 

of this state. ; and

     (b) (2) He or she intends in good faith either to maintain an

 

office in this state for the practice of law, and to practice

 

actively law in this state , or to engage in the teaching of law as

 

a full-time instructor in a reputable and qualified law school duly

 

incorporated under the laws of located in this state. ; and

 

     (c) (3) His Subject to subsections (2) and (3), his or her

 

principal business or occupation for at least 3 36 months of the 5

 

years immediately preceding his or her application has been either

 

the was any of the following:

 

     (i) The active practice of law in such that other state,

 

territory, or district. or the

 

     (ii) The teaching of law as a full-time instructor in a

 

reputable and qualified law school duly incorporated under the laws

 

of located in this or some other state, another state or a

 

territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia. , of

 

the United States of America, or that period of active

 

     (iii) Active service, full-time as distinguished from active

 

duty for training and reserve duty, in the armed forces Armed

 

Forces of the United States, during which the applicant was

 

assigned to and discharged the duties of a judge advocate, legal

 

specialist, or legal officer by any other designation, shall be

 

considered as the practice of law for the purposes of this section,

 

which if that assignment and the inclusive dates thereof shall be

 

of that assignment are certified to by the judge advocate general

 

or comparable officer of the armed forces concerned or by the

 

principal assistant to whom this certification may be authority is

 

delegated. ; or any

     (iv) Any combination of time periods of practice thereof.

 

engaged in more than 1 of the principal businesses or occupations

 

described in subparagraph (i), (ii), or (iii).

 

     (2) The supreme court may, in its discretion, on special

 

motion and for good cause shown, increase said the 5-year period

 

described in subsection (1)(c).

 

     (3) Any period of active service in the armed forces Armed

 

Forces of the United States not meeting that does not meet the

 

requirements of duty in the armed forces as herein stated described

 

in subsection (1)(c)(iii) may be excluded from the 5-year period

 

above prescribed described in subsection (1)(c) and the period

 

extended accordingly.