Young Lawyer Fighting Free Pass for
Some on Bar Exam Smacked Down by Judge

By the Staff of The National Law Journal
New York Lawyer
November 17, 2009

Even though Christopher Wiesmueller has twice defeated challenges to his case before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb chided the 28-year-old attorney Oct. 30 for a "lack of understanding of the law" and his "nonsensical" court filings.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of out-of-state attorneys who want to practice in Wisconsin challenges the constitutionality of the rule allowing admission to the bar for graduates from Wisconsin law schools without requiring them to pass the bar exam. The state requires nonresident attorneys to pass the Wisconsin exam to practice or show they’ve practiced for three consecutive years in another state.

Wiesmueller said in a telephone interview that the judge’s words were "not appropriate." "I u

nderstand perhaps my motion was overly creative, but I don’t think it warrants the blunt force trauma to the class that she’s proposing," he said. Wiesmueller said he was considering filing a motion to recuse Crabb.

Wiesmueller, who graduated from Oklahoma City University School of Law, filed the class action in 2007 against members of the Wisconsin Board of Bar Examiners, initially on behalf of himself and later with his wife, also from Oklahoma, as lead plaintiff.