A women’s group is vying for the state of Tennessee to change its rules about admitting recently relocated lawyers to the State Bar Association, claiming that the current rules are not amenable to mothers who wish to work part-time.
State Bar Associations often have agreements with other states allowing reciprocity for lawyers who relocate to be admitted to the Bar in their new state.
Tennessee’s State Bar requires that the attorney seeking admission worked five out of the seven years prior to moving to Tennessee as a full-time lawyer. The rule promulgates the exclusion of attorneys who are also mothers, who perhaps have only worked part-time because they are raising a child.
“The difference between a lawyer practicing full-time and part-time is the number of hours she works, not her expertise, experience, or skill. Often the hours gap is small. It is time to think about a women’s agenda that gives women more opportunities to pursue the life they want to live,” said Karin Lips, the President of Network of Enlightened Women (NeW).
“For many women, that means part-time work. States with a full-time work requirement should review their bar admission rules and remove the full-time work requirement for admittance without examination,” Lips said.
That law has not been updated since 1903, but now the Tennessee Supreme Court is hearing public comments on the issue. The Supreme Court has the power to update the rules on admission to the State Bar, according to Lips.
“This spring, the Network of enlightened Women, known as NeW, filed a petition with the Tennessee Supreme Court to remove the full-time work requirement,” according to a press release. “The Tennessee Supreme Court published an order soliciting comments, giving people the opportunity to share their agreement or disagreement with the proposed change.”
In a brief phone interview, Lips told The Tennessee Star that she thinks the Supreme Court will ultimately update the rules for admission to the State Bar.
She said that in 2014, the State Bar amended its rule to make it easier for military spouses who hadn’t worked full-time in five of the seven years prior to moving to Tennessee, noting that the current rules are a holdover from a past era when mothers did not typically work while raising children.
Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Karin Lips” by Network of Enlightened Women. Background Photo “Tennessee Supreme Court” by Jon698. CC BY-SA 4.0.
