Time Tested

The Minnesota Supreme Court has re-suspended a conditionally-reinstated attorney who did not take and pass the MPRE within the prescribed time

We have routinely denied attorneys’ requests for additional time to provide proof of passing the MPRE and instead have suspended the attorney. In re Kennedy, 919 N.W.2d 332, 332–33 (Minn. 2018) (order) (denying motion and suspending attorney who was unable to take March 2018 MPRE due to health reasons and professional obligations and took but did not receive a passing score on the August 2018 MPRE); In re Nwaneri, 912 N.W.2d 882, 882–84 (Minn. 2018) (order) (denying motion and suspending attorney who failed the MPRE twice and claimed he was unable to adequately prepare for the second exam because of pressing family obligations that required him to travel out of the county and the demands of his practice); In re McCormick, 837 N.W.2d 493, 494–95 (Minn. 2013) (order) (denying motion and suspending an attorney who failed the MPRE and said he failed because he was ill on the day of the exam); In re Ruhland, 833 N.W.2d 401, 401 (Minn. 2013) (order) (denying motion and suspending attorney who waited too long to register and said caring for his aging parents contributed to his failure to timely register).

Keate did not file proof of successful completion of the MPRE by October 19, 2023. As a result, we issued an order directing Keate to show cause why he should not be suspended pending his successful completion of the MPRE. In re Keate, No. A22-0773, Order at 1–2 (Minn. filed Oct. 23, 2023).

Keate filed an affidavit in response to the order to show cause. In it, Keate states that he signed up to take the August 9, 2023 MPRE but was not allowed to sit for this exam because he did not bring the required identification. Keate then took the November 3, 2023 exam. Keate asks for an extension until December 15, 2023, to file proof of passing the MPRE.

Denied

Keate’s request for additional time to take the MPRE is procedurally deficient. It was not made in a motion, as Rule 18(e)(3), RPLR requires. In addition, even if we construe this request as a motion, it is substantively deficient. Keate has not established good cause for his failure to pass the MPRE by October 19, 2023. He could have taken the March 2023 MPRE but appears to have made no attempt to do so. And Keate’s reason for not taking the August 2023 MPRE amounts, at best, to gross negligence on his part and not good cause.

(Mike Frisch)