Court Opinion

ID: 9703847
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 00:10:26.858862+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:52.264276
License: Public Domain

Louis J. Ceci and William A. Bablitch, JJ.,
dissent; they agree with the Board of Attorneys Professional Competence’s construction of SCR 40.05(1) (b) to require the active practice of law to have been conducted in a jurisdiction where the applicant was admitted to practice, and they agree with the Board of Attorneys Professional Competence’s determination that Ms. Townsend’s legal service was that of corporate counsel, thereby rendering her ineligible for bar admission in Wisconsin under SCR 40.05.
They interpret the majority opinion to require that if a formally or informally titled corporate counsel not admitted to practice in the state where he or she is employed relies upon SCR 40.05(1) (b) as the basis for admission, that person’s work must be “the active practice of law in the courts . . . .” (Emphasis supplied.) To interpret the majority’s holding any other way would be to render SCR 40.05(2) a nullity in most instances.