Military Service Meets Oklahoma Reciprocity For Admission Requirements

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has held that a military attorney may waive into the Bar without examination.

The facts are agreed by the parties. The appellant, Major James M. Green (Major Green) grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and graduated from high school there in 1991. He then served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps for nine years. After an honorable discharge, he obtained an undergraduate degree from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and a law degree from Thomas M. Cool[e]y Law School in Lansing, Michigan. Major Green was admitted to the Florida Bar Association in May of 2007. Florida is not a reciprocal state with Oklahoma.

 In June of 2007, Major Green returned to the Marines as an attorney and on March 21, 2008, he was designated a Judge Advocate after having attended the Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island. Since that time, he has served in a variety of roles. He is currently Regional Victims’ Legal Counsel for the National Capitol Region, which includes the eastern United States and Europe.

Major Green has been stationed at the United States Marine Corps Base at Quantico, Virginia since approximately the beginning of 2001. Most of his work occurs at his office provided by the military at Quantico. In January of 2014, he became a member of the Virginia Bar after taking the Virginia bar examination. [Virginia has reciprocity with Oklahoma.] Seeking to retire from the military and return to Muskogee to practice law and be near his family, Major Green filed an application for admission on motion under Rule 2 of the Rules Governing Admission to the Practice of Law in the State of Oklahoma, 5 O.S. Supp. 2015 ch.1, app. 5.

On March 13, 2015, the Board denied his application because he had not engaged in the practice of law in a reciprocal state for five of seven years immediately preceding his application. There were no other aspects of his application which were disputed, ie. good moral character, due respect for the law, and fitness to practice law. Major Green then asked for a hearing under Rule 11, 5 O.S. Supp. 2015 ch.1, app. 5.  On September 4, 2015, Major Green appeared pro se before the Board for a hearing regarding his eligibility for admission under Rule 2 of the Rules Governing Admission, 5 O.S. Supp. 2015 ch.1, app. 5. On October 19, 2015, the Board denied his application. Apparently, a majority of the nine board members voted to deny Major Green’s application but no vote was recorded.

The Board agreed that he had engaged in the practice of law for five of the last seven years, but determined that serving and practicing law in the military was not a “reciprocal state” under Rule 2. The Board commended Major Green for his service, but offered no sympathy and advised him to take the Oklahoma Bar Exam. The Board also admitted that our rules make it difficult for any military lawyer to ever qualify for reciprocity, but concluded that was no justification to grant admission.

The court held that the applicant’s military service as an attorney met reciprocity requirements

Major Green has with his service, represented the United States of America. Whether it is called a jurisdiction or a country, it is a conglomerate of all the states. Some of the purposes of letting military spouses practice law where their spouse is deployed is to eliminate the need for an additional bar examination, relive a significant portion of stressors for family, expedite job search efforts, and allow them to contribute to their families. Major Green has passed the bar examination in two of those states. Surely, that is more than sufficient. Major Green stated at the hearing that:

… I think it’s you [who] are prejudicing the military, those of us that go and fight for our country, and I have huge sacrifices I made being a military member, and to not be able to apply that service as my tour of duty comes to an end, I think that is unfair. I don’t think that the drafters of the rules contemplated that. . . I think we would have a different case if it was some sort of some different law that we practiced in the military. . . .It is different from military justice, but it’s – it’s the same type of statutes, same types of crime, burglary, rape, robberies, larceny. It’s the same stuff. It’s just under a different code. . . . The rule is about being fair. About being fair to jurisdictions that are fair with Oklahoma. And it would be unfair to not provide reciprocity to service members. . .

We agree with Major Green. He has met the requirements for Rule 2 of the Rules Governing Admission to the Practice of Law in Oklahoma and should be admitted instanter.

“Commended Major Green for his service but offered no sympathy…” is a bit of a gentle slap. (Mike Frisch)