Summer Job Misrepresentations Do Not Prevent Bar Admission In Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has reversed and remanded a matter in which the Board of Bar examiners declined to recommend admission.

This is a review, pursuant to SCR 40.08(7), of the final decision of the Board of Bar Examiners (Board) declining to certify that the petitioner, Joshua E. Jarrett, has satisfied the character and fitness requirements for admission to the Wisconsin bar set forth in SCR 40.06(1). The Board’s refusal to certify that Mr. Jarrett satisfied the character and fitness requirements for admission to the Wisconsin bar was based primarily on Mr. Jarrett’s conduct following his second year in law school, when he committed academic misconduct by misrepresenting law school grades and information to a prospective employer. After careful review, we reverse and remand the matter to the Board for further proceedings.

We appreciate the Board’s concern regarding this candidate, and we appreciate the thorough investigation the Board conducted into Mr. Jarrett’s background and past conduct. Mr. Jarrett’s academic misconduct raised a significant question about his fitness to practice law. The duty to examine an applicant’s qualifications for bar admission rests initially on the Board, and this court relies heavily on the Board’s investigation and evaluation. In the final analysis, however, this court retains supervisory authority and has the ultimate responsibility for regulating admission to the Wisconsin bar.

 The applicant attended the University of Wisconsin Law School and been successful in the school’s Innocence Project clinic.

But he made false statements in a summer job application

The resume and unofficial transcript that Jarrett submitted to the New York City Law Department were both false. The resume contained two falsehoods. It showed Mr. Jarrett’s grade point average (GPA) to be 2.75, when it was actually 2.72. It also listed him as a staff member of the Wisconsin Law Review, when, in fact, he was not a member. The unofficial transcript listed three false grades for his coursework. It indicated that he had “B” grades, when, in fact, he had “B-” grades for all three courses.

The matter came to light when he applied for admission based on Wisconsin’s diploma privilege.

The court

a majority of this court has determined that denying Mr. Jarrett admission to the bar is simply too harsh a penalty under the circumstances presented. We appreciate the time-consuming and difficult job the Board performs in conducting its character and fitness investigations. Indeed, we find no fault with the Board’s findings or reasoning in this case. The Board serves the critically important role as a gatekeeper to admission to the bar. Ultimately, however, we are persuaded that, subject to the imposition of certain conditions, Mr. Jarrett may safely be admitted to the practice of law…

…we direct the Board to certify Mr. Jarrett’s admission to practice law in Wisconsin. Mr. Jarrett’s admission to the practice of law in Wisconsin is contingent on his compliance with certain requirements set forth in this order as well as certain conditions on his license to practice law. Specifically, we direct the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) to identify and appoint a practice monitor to serve as a mentor to Mr. Jarrett and to supervise and oversee Mr. Jarrett’s practice of law and related professional activities for a period of two years following the practice monitor’s appointment.

 There are concurring and dissenting opinions.

The dissents

PATIENCE DRAKE ROGGENSACK, C.J. (dissenting). I would affirm the final decision of the Board of Bar Examiners (Board) declining to certify Joshua E. Jarrett’s character and fitness for admission to the Wisconsin bar. I am persuaded by the Board’s finding that Mr. Jarrett’s conduct in connection with his efforts in 2012 to secure summer employment with the New York City Law Department was both dishonest and deceptive and that such conduct demonstrates that Mr. Jarrett has acted in a manner that is not honest, diligent, or reliable. Coupled with the Board’s finding that Mr. Jarrett was not credible at the evidentiary hearing before the Board and when claiming he forgot to disclose three fairly recent separate speeding violations from Georgia, Kentucky, and Wisconsin, I conclude that there are simply too many incidents in which Mr. Jarrett considered the truth optional when it was not to his advantage.

Based on the record before this court, I am not persuaded that Mr. Jarrett has demonstrated the requisite moral character and fitness “needed to assure to a reasonable degree of certainty the integrity and the competence of services performed for clients and the maintenance of high standards in the administration of justice.” SCR 40.06. I would affirm the Board’s decision.

I am authorized to state that Justices ANNETTE KINGSLAND ZIEGLER and MICHAEL J. GABLEMAN join this dissent.

(Mike Frisch)