Foreign Bar Membership

• Author: International Law Group

On June 20 and July 27, 2000, the Law Society in London ruled that J. Driver was not eligible under the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Regulations 1990 (the Regulations) to take the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT) so that he could then apply for admission to the Roll of Solicitors. Driver appealed this decision to the Master of the Rolls pursuant to the Regulations.

If a foreign lawyer seeks admission to the Roll of Solicitors, passing the QLTT is an essential stage to becoming a Solicitor without the more strenuous education and training that other routes demand. When combined with further appropriate training requirements, passing the Test entitles the applicant to join the Roll of Solicitors in England and Wales. The Regulations specify the criteria which are a condition precedent to sitting for the QLTT. If they are met, the Law Society issues a certificate of eligibility to take the Test. This document also lists the subject matters of the QLTT the applicant must take as well as any further training requirements.

According to papers filed by Driver, he is a British citizen who read English as an undergraduate at the University of Sussex, receiving his degree in July 1978. In 1976, Driver emigrated to the United States. He passed the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) with a score of 680 out of 800. In December 1983, he obtained his J. D. degree from the University of San Diego Law School. Driver's petition alleges that he passed the Multistate Bar examination in 1994, although he has produced no documentary evidence showing his score or whether it was good enough to qualify him to become a practicing attorney in California or other American states.

In February 1994, Driver passed the main California bar exam as shown by a certificate to that effect. Passing a legal ethics exam, however, is a further requirement for admission to the California Bar. While Driver was still in the U.S., he worked as a law clerk to a California lawyer during law school. Between 1984 and 1991, he served as "Corporate Counsel" for a company calling itself "21st Century Financial" in San Diego. Driver went back to England, however, without having passed the ethics exam. There he secured a diploma in Business Information Technology in a European context from Canterbury University in November 1998.

Driver began trying to...