I know a number of folks have been eagerly (and impatiently) following the various challenges to state bar law admissions brought by an undocumented graduate in CA (too old for DACA), and in FL and CA (where both applicants have been accorded DACA status). There are new wrinkles and clearer timetables, which I tee up for you here. Here is an update to the confusing situations:

CA:
Subject: Supreme Court of California Case Notification for: S202512

The following transaction has occurred in:
GARCIA (SERGIO C.) ON ADMISSION
Case: S202512, Supreme Court of California

Date (YYYY-MM-DD):                      2013-08-07
Event Description:                          Case ordered on calendar

Notes: to be argued on Wednesday, September 4, 2013, at 9:00 a.m., in San Francisco.

For more information on this case, go to:
http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=0&doc_id=2014084&doc_no=S202512
                                               

FL:

This has become a miasma of jurisdiction and some fecklessness, where the state Bar and Board of Law Examiners had diddled about who actually gets to make the decision. Both groups appear to want to grant him admission to the bar, but they keep stumbling over each other’s tails. Because I do not want to confuse, I urge you to read this recent and careful ABA J story:

Martha Neil, Florida Bar supports undocumented law grad’s effort to win admission, ABA Journal, July 29, 2013, http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/fla._bar_offers_support_to_undocumented_law_grads_effort_to_win_admission/

NY:
In July, the NYS 2d Dept Committee on Character & Fitness held a Subcommittee hearing on Cesar Vargas' NY bar admission application.  The next step: the Committee's review and determination of the Subcommittee report & recommendation.

Bottom line—given the dithering in NY and FL with the DACA recipients, it is hard to predict what will happen. It is clear that the lawyers in these two cases are doing their best and trying to follow the shifting rules. The CA case is easier on the procedure, if the CA Supreme Court rules that 1621 and 1623 allow CA to admit the still-undocumented applicant, who is ineligible for DACA relief.

If anyone has information, articles, papers, etc on these matters, please contact me. Each will creep up on the Fall semester, so I flag them here for you.

Your hardworking Research Assistant,

Michael A. Olivas