A rule that charges higher rates to Florida Bar applicants previously admitted elsewhere for more than a year doesn’t discriminate in practical effect, a federal court said for the second time this year.
U.S. District Judge Allen C. Winsor granted partial summary judgment to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners in David Drwencke’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of its out-of-state bar admission rule, according to Bloomberg Law.
“At the end of the day, Drwencke has not provided evidence from which a factfinder could conclude the Rule discriminates in effect against out-of-state interests,” Judge Winsor noted.
Drwencke had argued that the rule effectively penalized out-of-state lawyers by imposing higher costs on them, which could act as a barrier to entry into the Florida legal market. However, the court found that there was no substantial evidence to suggest that the rule had an exclusionary effect on experienced out-of-state applicants.
This ruling emphasizes the court’s stance that increased fees for certain applicants do not constitute discriminatory practices, aligning with a prior decision earlier this year that similarly upheld the bar admission rules in Florida against claims of unconstitutionality.
The decision is a significant affirmation for the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, sustaining their policy on bar admissions and potentially influencing how other jurisdictions might structure their own bar admission processes in the future.