Yet a reinstated lawsuit from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals is challenging Wisconsin's diplomacy privilege law.,”

• Marquette and University of Wisconsin-Madison law graduates do not have to take the bar exam to practice law in Wisconsin
• A reinstated lawsuit brought by out-of-state lawyers challenges Wisconsin's diplomacy privilege
• Wisconsin is only state still exercising privilege
• Advocates claim Wisconsin's law schools prepare graduates well enough

Since 1870 law graduates from Marquette and University of Wisconsin-Madison have been able to shoot straight from the classroom to the courtroom without taking the bar exam.

Yet a reinstated lawsuit from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals is challenging Wisconsin's diplomacy privilege law.

Out-of-state law graduates who had to take the bar exam to practice in Wisconsin filed a lawsuit last year that was rejected by U.S. District Court Judge John Shabaz. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, however, sent the case back to Shabaz because it claims the judge should have determined whether the case is a class-action lawsuit, The Associated Press reported.

A class-action lawsuit involves joining a group of people who have the same injury caused by the same defendant, said Edward Fallone, associate professor of law at Marquette.

"Everything up till now has been procedural bickering on who has the right to sue," Fallone said.

Wisconsin is the only state in the country that still exercises diploma privilege. It was enacted in 1870 to encourage graduates to stay in Wisconsin, said Carolyn Butler, assistant dean for external communications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.

Diploma privilege was expanded to Marquette in 1933 after "concern over the quality of part-time legal education and/or religious and ethnic bigotry," according to a document written by Howard Eisenberg, the late dean of Marquette Law School. Wisconsin law school graduates have done better on bar exams than graduates from other states, he wrote.

While diploma privilege is still advocated in Wisconsin, the American Bar Association released a statement declaring that law graduates should be examined by public authorities to determine their competency, according to council statements from the Council on the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, and the Board of Managers.

The state Supreme Court is aware and involved in law schools' curricula, Fallone said. In-state law schools must meet minimal requirements whereas other states use the bar exam to measure minimal competency.

To pass the bar exam, students need a failing grade plus one, Fallone said.

"How is that ensuring that this person knows what they're doing?" Fallone said. "It's an inefficient way of communicating basic lawyering skills."

Marquette Law School curriculum covers material that students would learn from taking the bar exam, he said.

"For the kind of law school in the state we are, I feel very comfortable that the diploma privilege does its job of protecting the public," Fallone said.

Graduates from UW-Madison Law School also take courses to practice law efficiently and do not need to take the bar exam, Butler said. She said it's different for out-of-state graduates who have taken different courses.

"The reason you have the bar exam is to protect the public and ensure that the people who are entering the legal profession in the state are qualified," Butler said.

Wisconsin's law schools are ensuring that students are passing courses and receiving certain grades, meeting the same purpose as the bar exam, she said.

Critics of diploma privilege claim the law should not just apply to Wisconsin.

Steven Levine, former president of the Wisconsin State Bar Association and a lawyer, said there should be one standard for all lawyers. Some people shouldn't have the advantage of not taking the bar exam.

He said the bar exam doesn't prove whether people are qualified to practice law.

"Most lawyers concentrate on one or a few areas," Levine said. "The experience you get is a much better qualification than a bar exam you cram for and forget about afterwards," Levine said.

Diploma privilege is a matter of tradition that people do not want to give up, he said. As for the lawsuit, Levine said the defendants are raising procedural motions to get rid of the case without having the court decide whether the issue is legal or not.

Tom Worsfold, a second year law student at Marquette, said he thinks diploma privilege is a good thing.

"It's a really good way to keep bright young lawyers in your state," Worsfold said. "It's a nice incentive to attract bright kids to your law school."

Worsfold said just because Marquette law students don't take the bar exam, doesn't mean the curriculum isn't rigorous.

"The professors really take diploma privilege seriously," Worsfold said. "They really want to make sure you are learning to a proficiency that would equal or better what you would take for a bar exam."

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