Tuesday, January 7, 2014

California Supreme Court rules that undocumented resident has a right to a law license

Since 2012, I have been following a case in California on whether an undocumented immigrant should be allowed to practice law.  Go here for links to many of those posts.  Here is a link to the oral argument before the California Supreme Court, soon after which the California legislature passed a bill on the issue which was promptly signed in to law.

Last week, the California Supreme Court issued its decision on the case holding that the candidate has the right to the law license.  I have not read the opinion, but according to reports, the court holds that the fact that practicing law by an undocumented immigrant might result in some violations of the law is not a bar to licensing.  For links and comments go to the Legal Ethics Forum and the Legal Profession Blog.