[Bush] Judicial Nominee Practiced Law Without License in Utah

[Scooter24]

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.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A56413-2004Jun20?language=printer

[SupportRapeVictims]

1. In a legal sense, what he did is mitigated

by the fact that he simply did forget to renew it but otherwise was eligible. Thue, all of his attorney-client contracts are still valid. He would be subject to a fine though.

This rule applies to all professions requiring a license. Should he be rejected for this oversight? Possibly, but not only because of it.

[monarch]

2. More than an oversight!

He knew that he had to retake the bar exam because he registered for it but then he did not take it. It looks to me like a clear a case of thinking that law is for the little people.

[Scooter24]

5. I agree...

"This moves it for me from the realm of negligence to the realm of willfulness"

I would have to concur with this statement.

[DavidFL]

3. I'm not sure what Utah's law is...

but practicing law in my State without a license is a felony, as in punishable by time in jail. But since he's a connected Republican, I'm sure my State would let it slide. However, I'd have serious problems with a judge like this hearing my case, especially at the appeallate level and one step below the Supreme Court, when it sounds like Griffith probably could not remember his own name if it wasn't sewn into his underwear waistband.

I'm not buying the "it's the staff's fault" excuse in this case either. It's his license and he's responsible for ensuring that he's compliant with both the D.C. and Utah Bars' rules and procedures. As a lawyer, he has a duty to know them. Further, his background suggests he's a seasoned attorney and should know better, not some rookie fresh out of law school who is bound to make some mistakes. I thought this was supposed to be the party of personal responsibility? Anyway, at the last firm I worked at, this was an excuse used everytime one of the lawyers screwed up themselves but didn't want a court or a client to know it was their incompetence, not the staff's.

[Hubert Flottz]

4. Bush thinks a bar exam, means checking out a new beer joint!

Crooks appointing more crooks! Bush wants the kind of legal system that Adolf Hitler had! A system where the defendant is found guilty before he is even arrested! A system where the guilty judge the innocent! A pay your fee you go free system! A system that upholds slave prison labor and torture!

[Justice]

6. He applied to sit for the Utah exam, but never took it

How does one wiggle out of that, my friend?

Any lawyer knows that when moving to another state one must become admitted in that new state, either by waiving in (lots of paperwork, fees and letters of reference, and only if state permits it) or by talking the bar (or a mini bar).

If this is overlooked, it is pretty outrageous.