[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 610 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 610

To prohibit States from discriminating in the admission to the practice 
      of law of graduates of accredited and certified law schools.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 20, 1995

  Mr. Meehan introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To prohibit States from discriminating in the admission to the practice 
      of law of graduates of accredited and certified law schools.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the vast majority of States only allow out-of-State 
        residents having gone to schools accredited by the American bar 
        Association to sit for the bar;
            (2) many law school graduates are being restricted in their 
        admission to practice law because they have elected to attend a 
        school that is not so accredited;
            (3) each State requires bar applicants to pass its 
        individual exam of minimum competency before the applicants can 
        practice law within its borders; and
            (4) States should rely on such exams, not arbitrary 
        distinctions in State accrediting and certifying procedures, to 
        distinguish between qualified and unqualified candidates for 
        admission.

SEC. 2. STATE RESTRICTIONS ON ADMISSIONS TO PRACTICE OF LAW.

    No State shall discriminate in the admission of individuals to the 
practice of law on the basis of whether such individuals successfully 
completed a program of post-baccalaureate legal education of a law 
school that--
            (1) is approved by the accrediting or certifying agency of 
        the State in which the law school is located,
            (2) is approved by an educational accrediting agency 
        recognized by the State in which the law school is located, or
            (3) is approved by the American Bar Association.
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