Judicial Nominee Practiced Law Without License in Utah

[kskiska]

Monday, June 21, 2004; Page A01

Thomas B. Griffith, President Bush's nominee for the federal appeals court in Washington, has been practicing law in Utah without a state law license for the past four years, according to Utah state officials.

Griffith, the general counsel for Brigham Young University since August 2000, had previously failed to renew his law license in Washington for three years while he was a lawyer based in the District. It was a mistake he attributed to an oversight by his law firm's staff. But that lapse in his D.C. license, reported earlier this month by The Washington Post, subsequently prevented Griffith from receiving a law license in Utah when he moved there.

Under Utah law, Griffith's only option for obtaining the state license was to take and pass the state bar exam, an arduous test that lawyers try to take only once. He applied to sit for the exam, but never took it, Utah bar officials confirm.

Utah State Bar rules require all lawyers practicing law in the state to have a Utah law license. There is no general exception for general counsels or corporate counsels. Lawyers who practice only federal law or whose work is solely administrative can avoid the requirement in some cases.

Griffith has declined to discuss the matter…

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56413-2004Jun20.html

[MikeG]

1. It isn't like he didn't have a ticket or was disbarred.

But it's enough to disqualify him for the federal bench

[The Zanti Regent]

9. Not if Whorrin Hatch has his way

Whorrin' Orrin wants Nazi rubberstamps, not people for judges

[mom cat]

2. Oooooops! Another one bites the dust!

[hlthe2b]

3. Boy... they've been doing a wonderful job vetting lately....

First the Doc who ended up being the "Poster Boy" for malpractice suits (rather than the ideal example to emphasize the need for liability reform) and now this?

Yeah, boy....

[Warpy]

10. Don't forget the doc who heavily padded her resume

claiming to have practiced at a lot of places she apparently never set foot in. See the Idots for this week.

Yeah, I'd say they're all trying to put people just like themselves into all the top jobs.

Fakes.

[struggle4progress]

4. Uh, yeah. Hmmmm. eom

[Don_G]

5. Ignorance Of The Law Is NO EXCUSE!!!!!

:evilgrin:

[Doctor Smith]

7. Clearly, he knew the law,

or he wouldn't have applied to take the exam.

[Proud2BAmurkin]

6. So what? Bush * is practicing the presidency without being elected.

:shrug:

[UpInArms]

8. wonder if that was enough to have the

feds pull him from his cabin at 6:30 am and have him shackled as in the case of Hope Clarke?

Wouldn't this be a bit more serious than marshmallows and hot chocolate?

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/06/18/marshmallows.ap/index.html

[fryguy]

11. what worse? judicial "activism" or judicial incompetence?

but I'm sure he's 100% anti-choice, so he's the poster boy of the chimpy and will undoubtedly be put on the bench in some underhanded way to avoid Senate confirmation proceedings......either that, or he'll just blame the clintons....

[UpInArms]

12. kick

:kick:

[gatlingforme]

13. If he did not have a license to practice law in the state, then,

he should not have practiced, its a major breach of ethics and he should have then been disbarred. That states ARDC is should look into it --- he knew he should have had a license.

[struggle4progress]

14. kick

:kick: