Lane v. W. Va. State Bd. of Law Examiners

Citation295 S.E.2d 670,170 W.Va. 583
Decision Date17 June 1982
Docket NumberNo. 15499,15499
CourtSupreme Court of West Virginia
PartiesDaniel V. LANE v. The W. VA. STATE BOARD OF LAW EXAMINERS, etc., et al.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Article eight, section one et seq. of the West Virginia Constitution vests in the Supreme Court of Appeals the authority to define, regulate and control the practice of law in West Virginia.

2. The rules for admission to the practice of law in West Virginia, as promulgated by this Court, require that an attorney who is a member of the bar of a sister state and who desires to be admitted to the practice of law in West Virginia without examination, must bear the burden of showing that the standards for admission in the state where the attorney is admitted are "substantially the same" as the standards for admission in West Virginia.

Barbara H. Fleisher and Jeffrey K. Materly, Preiser & Wilson, Charleston, for petitioner.

S. Clark Woodroe, Asst. Atty. Gen., Charleston, for respondents.

McGRAW, Justice:

This is an original proceeding in mandamus. The petitioner is Daniel V. Lane, a former resident of California who desires to practice law in West Virginia. The respondents are the members of the West Virginia State Board of Law Examiners, the administrative body responsible for the review of applications, the giving of examinations, the investigation of character, and the general evaluation of applicants for admission to the West Virginia State Bar. The petitioner seeks to compel the respondents to grant his application for admission to practice law in West Virginia without examination, and to allow him to be admitted to practice upon motion. Because we find the petitioner ineligible for admission without examination under our Code of Rules for Admission to the Practice of Law, we deny the writ.

The petitioner received the degree of Juris Doctor in May of 1975 from the Southwestern University School of Law, located in Los Angeles, California. He subsequently passed the California Bar Examination and was admitted to the practice of law in California in December of 1975. The petitioner was engaged in the active practice of law in California from the date of his admission to the California Bar until November of 1981, when he moved to Clarksburg, West Virginia. The record indicates that the petitioner has remained in good standing throughout his legal career.

In January of 1982 the petitioner submitted to the respondents his application for admission without examination to the practice of law in the State of West Virginia. On January 20, 1982, the respondents notified the petitioner that he could not be admitted on motion, but would be required to take the bar examination. The reason given by the respondents for denying the petitioner's application was that the petitioner did not qualify for admission without examination under Rule 3.070 of the Code of Rules for Admission to the Practice of Law, which provides, in pertinent part:

No examination shall be required of any applicant ... who has been admitted to practice in another state where requirements for admission at the time of the admission of the applicant in that state where then substantially the same as those of the state in which admission is sought at that time.

The board explained that the requirements for admission to the practice of law in California are not the same as the requirements in West Virginia because "California does not admit attorneys from any state by reciprocity, but requires all applicants to take an examination."

By letter dated January 30, 1982, the petitioner requested that the respondents reconsider his application. On February 5, 1982, the respondents replied by letter that, upon reconsideration of the petitioner's application, a majority of the board was of the opinion that the petitioner was not eligible for admission without examination under the provisions of Rules 3.000 through 3.070 of the Code of Rules for Admission to the Practice of Law.

The petitioner contends that he has satisfied all the requirements of Rules 3.000 through 3.070 necessary to entitle him to be admitted to the practice of law in West Virginia without examination, and that the denial of his application for admission without examination deprives him of his livelihood and means of support until at least July of 1982 when the next bar examination is scheduled. He further contends that the denial of his application for admission without examination on the ground of a lack of reciprocity with the State of California constitutes a denial of equal protection of the laws and of due process under the Constitution of West Virginia, and violates the privileges and immunities clause of the Constitution of the United States. The petitioner therefore requests that a writ of mandamus issue ordering that the West Virginia State Board of Law Examiners grant his application for admission to practice without examination, that the reciprocity requirement set forth in W. Va. Code § 30-2-2 (1980 Replacement Vol.) be declared unconstitutional, 1 and that he be awarded costs and such other and further relief as seems just.

Because we find that the petitioner has not satisfied all the requirements imposed by the rules of this Court to entitle him to be admitted to the practice of law without examination, we deny the requested relief without reaching the issue of the constitutionality of the reciprocity requirement contained in W. Va. Code § 30-2-2.

It is indisputable that with the adoption of the Judicial Reorganization Amendment of 1974, this Court became the constitutionally authorized repository of the power to define, regulate and control the practice of law in West Virginia. Prior to adoption of the 1974 amendment, article eight, section one of the West Virginia Constitution provided: "The judicial power of the State shall be vested in a supreme court of appeals, in circuit courts and the judges thereof, in such inferior tribunals as are here authorized and in justices of the peace." The 1974 amendment changed this language to read: "The judicial power of the State shall be vested solely in a supreme court of appeals...." (Emphasis added). The 1974 amendment also added the following language to section three of article eight: "The court shall have power to promulgate rules for all cases and proceedings, civil and criminal, for all courts of the State relating to writs, warrants, process practice and procedure, which shall have the force and effect of law." We recently held in State ex rel. Frieson v. Isner, 168 W.Va. 758, 285 S.E.2d 641, 648 (1981) that article eight, section one et seq. of the West Virginia Constitution vests in the Supreme Court of Appeals the authority to define, regulate and control the practice of law in West Virginia. See also Stern Bros., Inc. v. McClure, 160 W.Va. 567, 236 S.E.2d 222 (1977). Thus, jurisdiction to establish standards for admission to the practice of law in West Virginia is vested in this Court. While the Legislature may enact statutes in aid of the exercise of that jurisdiction, see State ex rel. Frieson v. Isner, supra, the Legislature may not usurp, restrict, or impair the power of the judiciary to regulate the practice of law. See State ex rel. Thorn v. Luff, 154 W.Va. 350, 175 S.E.2d 472 (1970); West Virginia State Bar v. Earley, 144 W.Va. 504, 109 S.E.2d 420 (1959). See also State ex rel. Frieson v. Isner, supra; Pushinsky v. West Virginia Bd. of Law Examiners, 164 W.Va. 736, 266 S.E.2d 444 (1980).

The standards for admission to the practice of law this Court has promulgated include the requirements that applicants hold a baccalaureate or equivalent degree from an accredited college or university, complete a full course of study in a law school accredited by the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools, hold a Juris Doctor or equivalent degree from such law school, and successfully complete the West Virginia Bar Examination. See Rule 1.000, Code of Rules for Admission to the Practice of Law. The purpose of these requirements is to protect the public from being advised and represented in legal matters by unqualified persons. See Rule 4.000, Code of Rules for Admission to the Practice of Law. As was stated in West Virginia State Bar v. Earley, supra, "admission to membership in the legal profession is a privilege granted in the interest of the public to those who are morally fit and mentally qualified for the sole purpose of protecting the unwary and the ignorant from injury at the hands of persons unskilled or unlearned in the law." 144 W.Va. at 528, 109 S.E.2d at 435. "It is the duty of this Court to scrutinize carefully the qualifications of persons who seek to be admitted to practice before the courts of this State, in order that the public may be protected and the courts assisted in the discharge of the vital duties of the administration of law and the resolving of legal controversies." In re Eary, 134 W.Va. 204, 208, 58 S.E.2d 647, 650 (1950), quoted in Pushinsky v. West Virginia Bd. of Law Examiners, supra, 164 W.Va. at 746, 266 S.E.2d at 450.

While it is true that four exceptions are made to the examination requirement, these exceptions are entirely consistent with the purpose of our strict admission requirements. The four classes of applicants who may, by Court rule, be admitted to the practice of law in West Virginia without examination are: (1) graduates of the College of Law of West Virginia University, see Rule 1.020, Code of Rules for Admission to the Practice of Law; (2) resident professors of law at the College of Law of West Virginia University who have been full time members of the College of Law faculty for at least five years, see Rule 5.000, Code of Rules for Admission to the Practice of Law; (3) attorneys employed by or associated with an organized legal services program providing legal...

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