Opinion ID: 1201359
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the bar applicant's claim to admission without examination

Text: Joseph E. Owens [bar applicant or Owens] graduated from Woodrow Wilson College of Law in Atlanta, Georgia, an institution unaccredited by the American Bar Association [ABA]. In 1978 he passed the Iowa bar examination, was admitted to the bar and practiced in that state until his November 14, 1986 suspension after conviction of a felony. [3] Owens' license to practice law in Iowa was revoked in August 1988. Owens moved to this State in 1992 and applied for admission to the Oklahoma bar under Rule 2, [4] which gives reciprocity to practising lawyers from certain eligible states. [5] When the Oklahoma Board of Bar Examiners [Board] refused to admit him without an examination, Owens requested a Rule 11 hearings [6] to establish his ethical fitness to practice law. The Board notified Owens that a hearing was not called for because (a) Owens had not been rejected for lack of ethical fitness and (b) his application facially shows him to be ineligible for admission without examination as an out-of-state lawyer. He presses today for a Board hearing to establish his ethical fitness and try and demonstrate that he should be allowed the opportunity to practice law upon his Motion, [7] He also seeks the court's procedural advice on how to go about getting an Oklahoma license. [8]