NY Law Professors in Support of Diploma Privilege

I am one of the 300+ NY law professors who signed an open letter supporting a one-time emergency "diploma privilege" to practice in New York. The letter is addressed to Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, NY Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and NY Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. The letter reads in part:

Given the turmoil our nation has endured over the past three months, the continued disruptions in the daily lives of our graduates, and the continued threat of COVID-19 throughout the United States, it is difficult to imagine how any bar examination in the coming months could be considered either prudent or fair. Allowing our graduates to engage in limited supervised practice is an insufficient substitute because many will be unable to secure work until licensed. Even those who can secure work would be tasked with studying for a postponed examination while actively representing clients. Furthermore, there is no guarantee the health crisis will have resolved by the next bar exam.

The 15 deans of law schools located in New York jointly signed a letter, too (see here).

The drafters/organizers of the NY prof open letter are Cardozo colleagues Myriam Gilles, Betsy Ginsberg, Michael Herz, Rebecca Ingber, Kate Levine, Michael Pollack, Alexander Reinert, Kate Shaw and Ekow Yankah. This full letter is available for download here: Download NY Diploma Privilege.FINAL.7.21.20.

Comments

[Leo]

The problem is that NY has too many sub standard law schools. NYLS. Touro. Hofstra has a horrible bar pass, some upstate schools not much better. These deans have not thought about the negative effect this will have on their better students , who would pass the bar, they will be seen by employers as being from a school that got a great advantage here. So top students may actually be disadvantaged here

[anon]

Just when I thought that the level of common sense in left-wing legal academic circles and legislatures had reached an all-time, truly pitiful low, now this. This proposal really is an exceptionally dangerous bit of ignorance and poor judgment.

Did any of you go to law school? Do you have any memory of the marginal students? Do any of you know how easy it will be to find bottom feeders to certify ANYONE after allowing EVERYONE who manages to graduate from law school to practice?

Of course, the pampered and sheltered elites (e.g., law professors) won’t be affected by this folly, because they will always use their wealth and privilege to obtain competent legal services. No, as usual, this “politically correct” claptrap will only hurt the folks these people supposedly care about.

[Anon]

Calm down, bro. Its going to be OK. Really.

[Michael Hutter]

Michael Miller, a former president of the New York State Bar Association, published in the July 21, 2020 NY Law Journal (available on LEXIS, a thoughtful piece on the diploma privilege argument, calling it "deeply flawed."