Bill Text: MI SB0742 | 2015-2016 | 98th Legislature | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Occupations; attorneys; eligibility requirements for attorney licensed in another state to practice law in Michigan; modify. Amends secs. 931, 937, 940 & 946 of 1961 PA 236 (MCL 600.931 et seq.) & adds sec. 945.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-09-21 - Reconsider Vote Postponed [SB0742 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2015-SB0742-Introduced.html

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SENATE BILL No. 742

 

 

February 4, 2016, 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 931, 937, 940, and 946 (MCL 600.931, 600.937,

 

600.940, and 600.946), section 931 as amended by 2000 PA 86, and by

 

adding section 945.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 931. (1) The supreme court by administrative order or

 

rule may establish reasonable fees to be paid by an applicant for

 

admission to the bar. The fees required to be paid by each

 

applicant for admission to the bar shall be paid by the applicant

 

to the board of law examiners, and shall be deposited the board

 

shall deposit those fees in the general fund for the restricted

 

purpose of expenditures of the supreme court related to the

 

administration of the board of law examiners.

 

     (2) Subject to subsection (3), the fees described in this

 

section are as follows:

 

     (a) The fee for applying for examination is $175.00 for an

 

examination occurring before January 1, 2001, or $300.00 for an

 

examination occurring after January 1, 2001.

 

     (b) The fee for applying for reexamination or recertification

 

is $100.00 for a reexamination or recertification occurring before

 

January 1, 2001, or $200.00 for a reexamination or recertification

 

occurring after January 1, 2001.

 

     (c) The fee for admission without examination is $400.00 for

 

an admission without examination before January 1, 2001, or $600.00

 

for an admission without examination after January 1, 2001.

 

     (d) The additional fee for late filing of application or

 

transfer of an application is $100.00.

 

     (3) The supreme court, by administrative order or rule, may

 

increase the amounts prescribed in subsection (2)(a), (b), or (c)

 

within the following limits:

 

     (a) The fee for applying for an examination occurring after

 

January 1, 2002 may be increased to not more than $400.00.

 

     (b) The fee for applying for a reexamination or

 

recertification occurring after January 1, 2002 may be increased to

 

not more than $300.00.

 

     (c) The fee for admission without examination after January 1,

 

2002 may be increased to not more than $800.00.

 

     (2) (4) Each A member of the board of law examiners is

 

entitled to receive compensation for his or her services, as are in

 

an amount authorized by the supreme court and appropriated by the

legislature. , and in addition the A member of the board is also

 

entitled to reimbursement for his or her actual and necessary

 

expenses incurred in the discharge of his or her duties as a member

 

of the board, . The expenses of the board shall be paid upon

 

certification paid when the amount of those expenses are certified

 

by the supreme court pursuant to the procedures established by the

 

supreme court.

 

     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 of the United States, of America, and has completed

 

successfully 2-1/2 years of the course of study as a full-time

 

student, or 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 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 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.