Opinion ID: 407849
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: challenge to denial of bar admission.

Text: 44 A state's discretion over rules for admission to legal practice is vested in the judiciary, or the legislature. Schware v. Board of Bar Examiners, 353 U.S. 232, 77 S.Ct. 752, 1 L.Ed.2d 796 (1957). In Hackin v. Lockwood, 361 F.2d 499 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 385 U.S. 960, 87 S.Ct. 396, 17 L.Ed.2d 305 (1966), we held that the power to grant or deny admission to the bar is vested in the Arizona Supreme Court. Hence, the State Committee on Examinations and Admissions was not a proper defendant because it was merely a committee of the Arizona Supreme Court with powers delegated by the court. Id. at 500. 45 In Hackin, plaintiff, the graduate of an unaccredited law school, could not take the bar because a state bar rule allowed only graduates of accredited law schools to take the bar. Plaintiff sued the justices of the Arizona Supreme Court, the State Bar of Arizona, and the Committee on Examinations and Admissions. In holding that the state bar and the Committee on Examinations and Admissions were improper defendants, the court explained: 46 The State Bar of Arizona is not an appropriate party to the suit because it cannot promulgate or change the rules governing admission to practice in Arizona. Its Board of Governors can suggest rules to the Arizona Supreme Court, and can enforce them, but only with the approval of the Arizona Supreme Court.... 47 In the original complaint, but not in the amended complaint, appellant names as a defendant the Committee on Examinations and Admissions, presumably of the State Bar. This is not a committee of the State Bar, but a committee named by the Supreme Court of Arizona, made up of members of the Arizona State Bar, Rule 28(a). Thus we find the power to grant or deny admission is vested solely in the Arizona Supreme Court.... 48 361 F.2d at 499 (9th Cir. 1966). 49 Considering a similar admissions procedure, the court reiterated this conclusion in Chaney v. State Bar of California, 386 F.2d 962 (9th Cir. 1967), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 1011, 88 S.Ct. 1262, 20 L.Ed.2d 162 (1968). In that case, we held that the refusal of the State Bar Committee to certify an applicant was not a terminative step in the admissions process. Because final decision is vested in the state supreme court, the committee's decision not to admit had no fixative status until the court approved or rejected the Committee's recommendation. Id. at 966. Once a decision is final, the supreme court is the proper defendant when a party complains about examination procedures. Thus, the Committee cannot be a party because it is merely an arm of the state supreme court for the purposes of assisting in matters of admission ..., which matters remain ultimately in the court. Id. If the plaintiff is deprived of a right, it is the state supreme court, not the Committee on Examinations and Admissions, that is the source of the deprivation. 50 These decisions were reaffirmed in Brown v. Board of Bar Examiners, 623 F.2d 605 (9th Cir. 1980). The Bar Examiners of Nevada were found to be an improper party for the reason articulated in Hackin and reemphasized in Chaney, 2 id. at 608. See also Whitfield v. Illinois Board of Law Examiners, 504 F.2d 474 (7th Cir. 1974) (reaching similar conclusion). 51 The harm suffered by the plaintiff, if any, is that resulting from the Arizona Supreme Court's refusal to admit him to the bar. Accordingly, Ronwin cannot sue the Committee on Examinations and Admissions of the Arizona Supreme Court.
52 Court review of state procedures for admission and testing is guided by the rational basis standard. Chaney v. State Bar, supra, at 964; Tyler v. Vickery, 517 F.2d 1089, 1099 (5th Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 426 U.S. 940, 96 S.Ct. 2660, 49 L.Ed.2d 393 (1976). 3 While the discretion granted to states and bar examiners is broad, the opportunity to practice law is protected by the due process and equal protection clauses of the fourteenth amendment. Willner v. Committee on Character & Fitness, 373 U.S. 96, 102, 83 S.Ct. 1175, 1179, 10 L.Ed.2d 224 (1963). Brown v. Board of Bar Examiners, supra, established a definite procedure for challenging admission practices. Noting that admission procedures are purely a matter of local concern, Brown stated, The only constraints on the states' exclusive jurisdiction are constitutional in nature.... 623 F.2d at 609. 53 Brown outlined the alternatives available to an unsuccessful applicant: 54 Since federal courts are granted jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1343 to vindicate constitutional rights, an issue arises as to the extent of a federal court's authority to participate in what is primarily a state concern. A dichotomy has developed between two kinds of constitutional attack which might be pursued by an unsuccessful bar applicant: The first is a constitutional challenge to the state's general rules and regulations governing admission; the second is a claim, based on constitutional or other grounds, that the state has unlawfully denied a particular applicant admission. Doe v. Pringle, 550 F.2d 596, 597 (10th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 916, 97 S.Ct. 2197, 53 L.Ed.2d 227 (1977). 55 In the first type of attack, federal district courts may assert jurisdiction under § 1343 to ensure that generally applicable rules of procedures do not impinge on constitutionally protected rights. Federal courts have frequently entertained challenges to rules controlling admission to the bar, and have almost without exception sustained the validity of such rules. (Citations omitted). 56 On the other hand, a state court's decision on an individual application may not be disturbed in an original suit in federal district court. (O)rders of a state court relating to the admission, discipline, and disbarment of members of its bar may be reviewed only by the Supreme Court of the United States on certiorari to the state court .... Mackay v. Nesbett, 412 F.2d 846 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 960, 90 S.Ct. 435, 24 L.Ed.2d 425 (1969). In exercising its judgment on an individual petition, a state supreme court performs a judicial act, In re Summers, 325 U.S. 561, 65 S.Ct. 1307, 89 L.Ed. 1795 (1945), reviewable in the Supreme Court. See Schware v. Board of Bar Examiners, supra, 353 U.S. at 238, 77 S.Ct. at 755; Konigsberg v. State Bar of California, 353 U.S. 252, 258, 77 S.Ct. 722, 725, 1 L.Ed.2d 810 (1957). A federal district court, in contrast, does not sit as an appellate court and therefore lacks jurisdiction to review state court actions denying admission to the bar, even though the denial allegedly involves deprivation of constitutional rights. 57 Brown, supra, at 609-10 (citations omitted). The plaintiff in Brown attempted the only viable challenge to state bar admission procedures-a constitutional challenge. Brown denied jurisdiction because the plaintiff presented a claim of individual constitutional deprivation and the prayer for relief sought individual redress including monetary damages. Hence, the court found that the claim was not cognizable in district court. Brown, supra, at 611.
58 The opinion disregards the tradition of deference to state discretion in admission procedures. Because such deference has never existed toward the state's ability to regulate fees, the majority's reliance on Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar, 421 U.S. 773, 95 S.Ct. 2004, 44 L.Ed.2d 572 (1975), is misplaced. Further, the opinion creates an antitrust cause of action where the only challenge that might be appropriate is a constitutional one. Brown, 623 F.2d at 609. Finally, Brown held that a federal district court does not have jurisdiction over a claim against bar examiners because the state court is the real party in interest in admission cases. In addition, jurisdiction is allowed only where the suit alleges arbitrary and capricious procedures violative of due process. 623 F.2d at 610. However, the qualifications for admission in Arizona are nearly identical to those unsuccessfully challenged in Brown. Id. at 610, n.9. Because Ronwin has sued the wrong defendant and because his suit raises no constitutional challenge to admission procedures, binding precedent requires that the district court's dismissal be affirmed. 59