Opinion ID: 1892769
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Milton Schober

Text: Petitioner Schober, a certified public accountant, graduated from a four-year law program at Centenary College in Louisiana in 1955. Centenary College was formed after World War II, and was closed in 1964. During that time it operated as a proprietary (for profit) school and never sought ABA accreditation since the ABA did not review proprietary schools prior to 1977. As we recognized in Hansen, this policy was based on the ABA's considered opinion that operating a school for profit would lead to skimping on services to the law students and would adversely affect the caliber of education. In 1977, the ABA resolved to accept applications from proprietary schools to test the correctness of its assumption, but by that time Centenary College had closed. [2] Schober passed the Louisiana Bar in 1955, was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1961 and the bars of the District Court and the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1972. He has also been admitted to practice before the Courts of Appeal for the Fifth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits. Schober was in private practice in Louisiana until 1968, served in Washington, D.C. as a division Assistant Director for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 1968-1970, as general counsel to the National Commission on Consumer Finance, 1970-1972, and resumed private practice from 1973-1986. In 1986, Schober became vice president of ITT Consumer Financial Corporation, and was promoted to Senior Vice President and Secretary in 1987. He has authored numerous legal articles, has participated in national drafting committees for Uniform Laws and state and federal statutes and regulations in the 33 years since his admission to the bar, and is a recognized expert in the field of regulated lending. Since joining ITT in December 1986, Schober has resided in Minnesota. He requests admission to the Minnesota bar so he may assume the duties of general counsel for ITT, supervising 11 attorneys and conducting all phases of corporate legal work. Schober filed an application for admission to the Minnesota bar on June 8, 1988, which was denied because he had not graduated from an ABA accredited law school. He appealed that determination to the Board. The Board held an informal hearing on August 25, 1988, at which Schober's attorney appeared and argued for waiver of the education requirement. On October 7, 1988, the Board formally reviewed Schober's application, his curriculum vitae, information obtained from Centenary College and the ABA, as well as a letter brief submitted by his attorney. The Board recommended waiver. Concluding that Schober had shown compelling reasons for waiver of Rule II(A)(4) and had shown that hardship would result from requiring him to attend law school again, the Board listed five grounds for its decision: Centenary was a proprietary law school when Schober graduated from it and not eligible for ABA accreditation until 1977, by which time the school had closed; Schober had practiced law for 33 years, was admitted to the bars in a number of other jurisdictions and had apparent expertise in his field of practice.